Lord Liaden

Re: Universal Translator: Overpriced at 20? Particularly compared to a VPP, where Lims only apply to the Control Cost.

Re: Looking for story input... Hmm... I'll need more time to cogitate the possibilities, but one possible hook has occurred to me. VIPER is particularly interested in the superhuman Champions, intending to use samples of their genetic material to create similarly-powered "homegrown" supervillains to serve them. When your PC heroes break up the plot and free the hostages, they can discover that this experiment is a revival of an earlier VIPER project which resulted in the creation of NPC #1. Moreover, the records of the project reveal that NPC #1 was himself derived from a superhero who has been missing for years. The records don't show what his final fate was, though. This development could lead to a quest by the PCs to uncover the fate of their fellow hero, and to rescue him if he's still being held captive. The players will also have to deal with what this will do to their NPC colleague's sense of identity, which could provide interesting roleplaying opportunities for PC #1. Depending on what this missing hero brings to the table, your heroes could come out of this with useful resources and contacts, as well as (unfortunately) a higher profile in VIPER's sights.

Re: [storytime] Birth of RAVEN Thank you for giving credit where it's due, assault. Because of the very positive feedback I've received for this idea, I'm considering expanding this version of RAVEN for a Digital Hero article. Steve Long very generously gave me permission to use an abridged version of his old 4E Raven material from An Eye For An Eye, since he has no current plans for the group. If I go ahead with an article I'll probably be back on the boards soliciting input on it from all you creative and helpful folks. In the meantime I've had a few more thoughts about this org which I'll throw out for anyone thinking of using it: I was frankly torn about whether to use Zorran the Artificer instead of Stingray as one of the new RAVEN's leaders. To be honest I chose Stingray mostly for a bit more gender balance. Switching the characters wouldn't change the dynamics of the group greatly since Zorran's background and motivation are very similar to Stingray's, but Zorran brings a lot more to the table: he's more powerful, a much more versatile and knowledgeable sorceror, and his skill with Lemurian magical constructs could be as valuable to RAVEN as Teleios's biological expertise. If I go ahead with the article I think I'll use Zorran instead; Stingray might have to be content with being "merely" the leader of RAVEN's superpowered Praetorian Guard. (Stingray's abilities are better suited to more straightforward combat anyway.) However, both characters having knowledge of magic, either one would be suitable as the leader/director of the Dark Brotherhood, RAVEN's mystical cult. In the version from AEFAE the Dark Brotherhood was primarily another recruiting tool for RAVEN, drawing in malleable people looking for meaning in their lives who could be molded to RAVEN's purposes; although Steve did provide optional low-powered magic spells for Dark Champions campaigns that allow for the supernatural. However, in a full supers universe the Brotherhood could also be a means to identify and train those with "supermage" potential to add to RAVEN's ranks of the superior. I can think of a few other published supervillains who might become particularly prominent domini of RAVEN. For example, as the foremost computer hacker in the world, the cyberkinetic Cybermind (from Conquerors, Killers And Crooks) could be a tremendous threat to world security if given focussed and intelligent direction. The shapeshifting master spy and assassin Masquerade (also from CKC) would probably appreciate having his/her superiority to common humanity formally acknowledged. Adding these two to their other resources would give RAVEN unsurpassed ability to steal secret information and covertly manipulate other parties according to their desires. The mentalist/inventor Brainchild (another CKC resident) could likely be persuaded to design weapons and equipment exclusively for RAVEN's "merely human" operatives to match that of other super-agencies. Along those lines I had a thought for my article which long-term Champions afficionadoes might appreciate: I was thinking of equipping RAVEN's non-super combat force, aka "the Legion," with variable modular powered armor, which given RAVEN's borrowing of motifs from imperial Rome would be code-named the Testudo.

Re: Show me the Water Powers http://www.herogames.com/USPD/water.htm

Re: CHAMPIONS UNIVERSE II - What Do You Want To See? Yes, DH #11, but that was from Darren Watts's "History of the CU" series of articles, so I assume that it's more or less official. As for the Valley of Night, with that name, location and history, I'm betting that it has something to do with Eclipsar.

Re: Soliciting Ideas - Maybe not Galactus, but there are plenty of other "space god" types who could become involved in Earthly affairs without necessarily threatening to destroy the planet. In particular, Elders of the Universe like the Grandmaster or the Collector can be a major complication for the PCs while the rest of the world goes blithely on its way.

Re: Villain SIDs For my own campaigns, I generally just downplay any time that the PCs might spend in court, much as most police dramas do. Unless you actually want to roleplay the trial for some plot-related reason, you can just assume or mention that the heroes have done their civic duty in the same "offscreen" time that they devote to their other mundane activities. That said, if supervillains were caught with clear physical evidence of their crimes, and/or in the presence of duly authorized officers of the law, most such cases would be solid enough that the heroes likely wouldn't need to be called to testify. Certainly there are enough real-world cases where all available witnesses aren't called upon.

Re: Champions universe created by magic? As this thread demonstrates, there is significant disagreement that the convention of magic in the CU has reached this level. Perhaps we should just leave it at that.

Re: Champions universe created by magic? This is a key point IMO. If you want a supers world that's similar to the world of mainstream comics, with a history similar to that of the real Earth, and society that's fundamentally like contemporary Earth, then you need an explanation as to why superpowers and supertech emerged in quantity only during this era, and why supertech is not widely disseminated. Magic is what's used in the CU. As I said, personally I don't care for it, but I don't have a problem with it in principle. I've already provided a rationalization on this thread for why magic-affected technology, mutant powers etc. are not in themselves magic. I can't say it any better. I also have to reiterate that the protests of "It's magic!" imply, to me, personal biases as to what "magic" is supposed to be, which may be obscuring the logic of the debate over what magic is for purposes of this setting. I apologise to anyone whom I might offend with this rant, but I really, really dislike the common and casual use of "kludge" in reference to game rules or setting conventions. IMO people often use the word when they mean "The way they do it doesn't work for me and I don't like it," which is fair; but calling it a kludge deliberately disparages it, and incidentally disparages people who agree with it, while implying that it's not worth the intellectual effort to describe why it doesn't work. Now that that's off my chest , I'll just respond to a few points raised recently. Personally I have no problem with a Dispel/Surpress that targets any channeling of the energies of "magic" (spells, blasting wands and the like) while not affecting the ambient magic in the universe that allows other superpowers to exist. Psionic powers are a well-established element of "soft science" sci-fi settings. If an explanation is desired, consider that "psi energy" is internally generated rather than being based on magic. That said, the writeups for the various Hero Universe psionic aliens such as the Mandaarians and the Varanyi reflect a lesser level of power during the non-magic era. The Progenitor technology that keeps the Empyreans' Antarctic city of Arcadia habitable continues to function during the non-magic era. OTOH Galactic Champions specifies that the Warlord's technology failed when the magic went away. I admit that that surprised me too considering that the Warlord supposedly copied alien tech; but you certainly could rationalize it as incomplete understanding of its principles, so "flexible physics" had filled some important gaps. For me, the bottom line is that this is comics! There are so many other logical inconsistencies to superhero physics, does it really pay to scrutinize this one so closely?

Re: Universal Translator: Overpriced at 20? Putting Skills into a VPP is already a "GM permission" ability. Plus many heroic-level campaigns don't allow Powers and/or Power Frameworks for characters, but may be "cinematic" enough to allow Talents. Also keep in mind that Universal Translator allows comprehension of any type of communication, from spoken speech to sign language, to growls or clicks, to Se'ecra wing-flutters.

Re: Villain SIDs The villain could have adopted a new alias and costume after his first arrest, unconnected to his previous one. Or, for reasons of national security or national embarrassment (the villain knows something that the government doesn't want revealed), the villain was never tried in open court. Certain government agencies know who she is, but her identity is not a matter of public record. Or, the villain could have been arrested over something not directly connected to his supervillain activities, like Al Capone being sentenced for tax fraud. Maybe the villain was in possession of stolen merchandise or had been discovered hacking sensitive computer records, but never actually caught committing a crime while in his costumed ID.

Re: Villain SIDs Any villain responsible for Sudden Infant Death syndrome deserves any punishment he gets!

Re: Champions universe created by magic? The impression I've gotten is that there was never a time when ambient magic was so low that beings of superhuman power were completely powerless, before the events of the year 2020. In Galactic Champions it's mentioned that the Star*Guard "had long been aware that a 'primal force' underlay Reality and made certain powers possible, but kept this information a closely guarded secret".

Re: New to the Hero System & Have a Question Yeah, "Uncle Ben's Converted Rice" has always puzzled me. I mean, did it not start out as rice?

Re: Idea for a new Ultimate Series book Inspired by and based on it (as Shelley herself notes in PRIMUS), but somewhat modified and going well beyond equipment allotment. I think an Ultimate book exploring all the permutations of organizations in a game setting would be very useful, and rank would certainly be an appropriate subject to cover in it.

Re: Champions universe created by magic? As opposed to being created by miracle? It strikes me that "magic" is just a word we use for phenomena that can't be explained rationally or tested empirically. The problem IMO is that we all have our own preconceptions as to what magic is - and being gamers, that often bears little resemblance to any real-world magic traditions - and that biases our reaction to introducing "magic" into any setting. In the era of quantum physics, the line between science and magic is starting to look awfully blurry.

Re: Idea for a new Ultimate Series book

Re: Variable power upon arrival Good observation, but as I noticed with one of my own character builds, 3-point CSLs which would work for a single Multipower, won't work for two or more.

Re: Combat Question: The "counter" Sorry, Lord Captain, I should have been more explicit. The part of p. 143 I referred to is the top left-hand corner, the paragraph with the bold heading "Blocks Combined With Other Elements." As ghost-angel mentions, Designing New Martial Arts starts on p. 88. The most relevant section begins on the righthand column of p. 90, "Maneuver Basis," and continues to the top of p. 91, "Exclusive Versus Non-Exclusive Bases." The existing maneuvers "Defensive Throw" and "Grappling Block" are statted on the maneuvers table on p. 9.

Re: Variable power upon arrival

Re: Teen superteam Team lineup looks good, but I'm not sure about Black Mask as a mentor. She's more of a solo hero and doesn't come with some of the resources that a team could use, such as a base (or at least someplace to hang their capes). Since you're shifting characters from their official locations in the sourcebooks, I'd recommend Dr. Silverback from Millennium City. More resources, more inclined to be a teacher, less likely to go into the field and thereby overshadow the teen supers, and he fills in the team's technical shortcoming.

Re: Combat Question: The "counter" If you have The Ultimate Martial Artist, that shows you how to build custom Martial Maneuvers by combining various elements (in the chapter "Designing New Martial Arts." According to UMA p. 143, you can combine Block with a Non-Exclusive Basis such as Grab or Throw, i.e. if you successfully Block you've automatically Grabbed or Thrown your attacker. A couple of existing Maneuvers from UMA, "Defensive Throw" and "Grappling Block," are built this way.

Re: CHAMPIONS UNIVERSE II - What Do You Want To See? Oh, right, the Kingdom of the Apes! I forgot all about that - good catch SirViss. Definitely worth a little more print. Their mention in CU doesn't actually specify a "city," though, but it does say the gorillas are hostile to nature-despoiling humans, so I'm guessing they're not urban. Heck, maybe there should be a Hidden Lands II.

Re: Variable power upon arrival Does anyone have a page reference in 5ER to where it explicitly bans multiple slots in a Multipower as part of a MPA? (I'm still using the FREd + FAQ combo.)

Re: Variable power upon arrival Hmm... other than the Multipower/VPP route, the only way I can see making this work with a single attack Power would be to use Transform with Improved Target Group. I know that the rules recommend against Transform being used to duplicate the effects of another Power, but in this case I'd say it falls within GM permission territory to get the specific range of effects that you want.