Lord Liaden

Folks who have read the current Champions supplement The Mystic World, or the Fourth Edition sourcebook The Ultimate Super Mage, will be aware of the entity called the Dragon, one of the great powers of occult evil in the Hero Universe. For those of you who haven't read those books, be warned that this post draws on "GM's Vault" material on the Dragon, and so the following contains MAJOR SPOILERS: The Dragon is described as the ultimate source of the most profoundly evil impulses in the human psyche, but it has been (apparently) deliberately bound within the collective subconscious of humanity, where its freedom to act is limited. Several theories are suggested as to what it is, where it comes from and how it ended up this way, but no firm explanations are given - the "true" origin of the Dragon is left up to individual GMs. TMW and TUSM also describe the Nagas, a vaguely-humanoid reptilian species gifted in the ways of magic, who have long given indirect help and advice to mankind against the Dragon and its minions. No definitive explanation is offered as to the origins of the Nagas either, nor what connection they have to the Dragon. Having had reason a while ago to decide on the origins of the Dragon and the Nagas for my own campaign, I wondered what other explanations, if any, people had come up with, and how they might be using these characters and concepts in their games. I thought I would post my own ideas to start the ball rolling, and as an offering for other GMs to use in their games. I've tried to extrapolate from the few published details to craft something consistent but open-ended and flexible. "My" origin for the Dragon is presented as though it were a tale of legend, which I've tried to make entertaining (hopefully). It is fairly lengthy, though: Eons past, long before the spark of sentience appeared on Earth, a race arose on another planet far across the galaxy from ours. This world was rich in magic, and the race who would call themselves the Nagas had great innate talent in its use, so as their civilization developed magic filled the role that technology did on many other worlds. In other ways, though, the history of the Nagas followed a path all-too-common among sentient species. They inherited the burden of fear and hatred; their great achievements in art, science and philosophy were marred by equally great wars, tyrannies and other atrocities. Eventually they reached the line that so many other races have crossed, of annihilating themselves in catastrophic global war. In the end, though, the Nagas found the wisdom not to destroy themselves. Turning away from their heritage of savagery, they resolved to rebuild their civilization based on principles of peace, compassion and inner enlightenment. The road was a long and difficult one, with many missteps, but over centuries of searching and contemplation the Nagas learned much about themselves and the nature of the Universe, and gradually suppressed their own darker impulses. Their world became one of peace and harmony, where every individual strove for the betterment of the whole, and the whole strove for the betterment of the individual. Yet despite all they had achieved, the Nagas were still held back from attaining their full potential by the taint of their heritage. It was part of what they were and could never be completely ignored or controlled. Joining in worldwide psychic communion, the Nagas debated the issue and decided to try to transcend their race's limitations together for all time. In a single great ritual lasting many days the Nagas purged themselves of all their negative drives and motivations. The energies manifesting as hatred, greed, fear, lust, cruelty and others were drawn from them and cast into the Astral Plane of thought and spirit, there to dissipate and vanish. As their minds and souls were freed of the weight of evil, they ascended of their own accord to a higher state of awareness. The Nagas' physical forms spontaneously transformed to reflect their new status, shining with the light of Universal Understanding. The Nagas rejoiced in their achievement and the limitless possibilities that now seemed open to them. Sadly, the Nagas' great wisdom had failed them in one crucial respect. They had believed that the evil they cleansed from themselves would disperse harmlessly throughout the Astral Plane. It did not. As though acted upon by arcane gravitic mutual attraction, the evil of the Nagas gradually drew together and coalesced. It grew and writhed and became one, one vast living spirit formed of the will to Evil. To those who might perceive it on the Astral Plane it took a form like that of the ancient bestial reptiles from which the Nagas descended, though grown impossibly titanic; but within it the spark of intelligence warmed, and it became aware of itself. And it named itself the Dragon. The Dragon was driven by the desire to bring suffering to others, to cause corruption and pain and despair. It could sense the Nagas on the planet nearest to its location in the Astral Plane, but could also sense their mystic might and feared to face them. So it fled from them across the void, seeking a world whose inhabitants were more vulnerable. It found one, and assaulted them with its malice. Though these beings had their own stain of darkness on their souls, they were no better nor worse than most; but the Dragon filled their minds with terrible thoughts and feelings, unleashing waves of murder, rape, torture and other madness across the planet. It poured portions of its own power into selected living vessels, creating monsters that rampaged over the world. Perhaps vilest of all, the Dragon whispered to the minds of those who lusted for wealth or power or other things too twisted for them to publicly acknowledge, and promised them their heart's desire in exchange for willing damnation in its service. When the Dragon was finished with that world, its people had destroyed or degraded all their greatest works, and had slaughtered each other in diverse hideous ways down to the last child. Nothing but ruins and corpses remained as a testament to the Dragon's power and malevolence. Then the Dragon moved on to another world. And another. In time the rumor of the Dragon's acts came to the ears of the Nagas, and they realized what they had wrought in their pride and ignorance. Filled with guilt and acknowledging their responsibility, the entire Naga race ascended from their world on wings of light, and set off across the void in pursuit of the Dragon, determined to end its depredations. They followed its trail from one devastated planet to the next, their grief and resolve mounting. At last they caught up with it near another world, whose dominant species was yet primitive and crude as the Nagas had been in their ancient past, yet with the seeds of potential greatness clearly visible within them - potential the Dragon was preparing to snuff out. That race would one day call themselves Human, and name their world Earth. At last the Nagas and the Dragon faced each other on the Astral Plane, and joined in terrible battle. The psychic echoes of that conflict reverberated across the Earth, panicking the beasts of the land and sea, and causing the Humans to cower in nameless fear in their crude dwellings. Resolutely the Nagas flung themselves at their hideous offspring; the souls of millions of them were torn asunder in it jaws or beneath its claws, but they delivered grievous wounds to their enemy in return. At last, though, the collective consciousness of the Nagas came to a bitter realization: they could not kill the Dragon. It was the dark reflection of their entire race, and possessed all their power, all their occult knowledge. They were too closely matched for either side to end the other. However, the Nagas realized that they did have the strength to bind the Dragon. They could take it back into themselves, into their own psyches, restraining it by the force of their wills, so that it would never harm any other beings so long as their race endured. But to do so would also mean corrupting themselves with the Dragon's evil, the evil that they had worked so long and hard to rid themselves of. All that they had achieved would be lost, their race's potential forever stunted. There was one other option open to the Nagas, though that too was odious to them: they could cast the Dragon into another prison that stood ready nearby... the collective unconscious of Humanity. It would then be Humanity that bore the taint of the Dragon in their souls for all their future. To their undying shame, the Nagas chose Humanity. While the Dragon faced most of the assembled Naga host, some of them seized the primitive Human dreams and fantasies that had half-materialized on the Astral Plane, and coalesced them into a rocklike mass embedded on the Dragon's back. The weight of that mass pulled the Dragon down into the minds of the Human race. There the Nagas drew forth some of their positive spiritual essence, their courage and honor and wisdom, and wove it into chainlike bonds. The Dragon screamed in rage and struggled against its chains, but they held it immobile and nearly impotent. That effort by the Nagas had not been without cost to them, though; they were diminished, now only able to achieve their most evolved form with effort and for a limited time. They were diminished, too, by awareness of what their act had cost Humanity. They could clearly foresee what was to come. Though Humanity had had its own share of dark desires, much as the Nagas themselves once did, the Dragon was a concentrated Evil beyond their ken. Though it was now too restrained below the level of consciousness to fully control them, it could and would prompt them to wicked thoughts and acts, some more awful than they could ever have conceived alone. The Dragon would bring lesser spawn of itself into being on Earth to bedevil Humanity. And there would always be those Humans who readily listened to the Dragon's blandishments, and would willingly debase themselves for its promise of dark rewards. Humanity's future would be littered with the blight of the Nagas' choice. To ease their guilt at least a little, the Nagas resolved to aid Humanity as best they could against the Dragon. Some of the Nagas would remain on Earth, to assist Humans in their struggle with the enemy within themselves. The Nagas would not meet the Dragon's disciples and minions with violence; violence was the way of the Dragon, and would only strengthen its hold on the Human psyche. Instead they would act as guides and teachers, showing Humans how to control and ultimately transcend their inner evil. Sometimes the Nagas wore Human guise to walk among them, and became known as teachers of great wisdom, revered in history. At other times the Nagas appeared in their natural forms, or in their ultimate form of supernal beauty and power, as symbols for Humanity to aspire to; and so entered into the body of legend, myth and religion. So the millennia passed. Although even for the immortal Nagas the effort was long and frustrating, and at times they despaired of the outcome, at last they saw their efforts begin to bear fruit. Slowly, painfully, Humanity began to slough off its barbarism and strive to better itself, groping toward true enlightenment. The Nagas are still among them today, offering advice and encouragement, and dare to hope for a day still doubtless far in the future, when Humanity as a race will be ready to cast out the Dragon and fulfill their own potential. On that day the Nagas intend to be beside them, so that together they may destroy the horror of the Dragon once and for all.

Re: Reasoning from effect or vice versa? I found JmOz's final posted comment on the third "this," about twins, to be quite illuminating: The multiplicity of mechanical options possible under HERO are one of the things I notice causing confusion for newcomers to the system. HERO has little of the "this is the one/best way to do X" advice that is very common in other games. For any given concept, any given special effect, there may be a dozen different ways to build it which are equally rules-legal and mechanically valid. Often the main determinant between one build and another is how the individual designing it wants it to work - in other words, purely individual taste. Robyn, I've been watching you struggle with this as you get further into HERO. I've seen you present wonderfully detailed conceptual descriptions of things you want to do, and ask for suggestions on how to do it in the system. Often your reply to those suggestions comes down to, "That isn't what I'm describing," as though the description should clearly convey THE way it should be done. It appears that what you're looking for is the particular feel that a construct might give, and those are highly individual and subjective. We can offer suggestions for the concepts and SFX that you provide that seem most logical or appropriate to us, but which one if any feels right to you is your decision. It's like your questions regarding firearm scopes, on another of those threads you linked to: The ultimate answer to all these questions is, "Yes, if you want it to, No if you don't want it to." Again, we can offer you our views on what seems most appropriate, or point you to examples from published books that give you an "official" take on the issue; but in the end, the components of HERO are there to be cherrypicked and arranged in whatever way feels most suitable to you. Even Steve Long constantly repeats that those decisions are just as valid for your own game as any ruling of his. Admittedly it's kind of a postmodern take on gaming , but if you accept that not only the concepts and special effects, but even the mechanics of the game are to a large degree subjective, I think this stuff will go down more easily.

Re: Does Champion's Sidekick have all the same rules?

Re: Trek Hero PDF available The Defiant is fully written up in the TNG Hero PDF available on the same webpage, covering the continuity of Next Gen/ DS 9. If you just want the ship details you can download Part 5 from the list of links to separate sections of the sourcebook.

Re: Need a few suggestions for new girl on the block I've found a lot of adventure inspiration in the campaign logs from this great Pulp campaign website, The Empire Club. They cover a range of exotic period locales and adventures for different pulp subgenres. Check out the link titled "The Amazing Adventures of the Empire Club." And welcome.

Re: Need help with...The List... Never meant to suggest that you should. Sorry about the thread tangent. FWIW I'm not enamored with the official 5E Dr. D either. The version I use in my campaign is significantly different. So I sympathize.

Re: Transformation

Re: Need help with...The List...

Re: Transformation I shall do my best to satisfy both you and the palindromedary. For the granting of things like wishes and other benefits that the character would desire, I generally use the standard "vs. Body" mechanic. In that case it's really just a yardstick for how much Transform you need to do the job, or how many applications it would take, since the target presumably isn't resisting; so Body seemed as good a measure as any, and it simplifies bookkeeping. For curses and similar negative effects, I prefer to give the Transform the Advantage, "Works Vs. EGO" as per Mental Transform, because I feel that Ego is a better measure of the target's innate "spiritual resistance." However, I don't require Based On ECV for Spiritual Transform.

Re: Transformation

Re: Need help with...The List... That would be a Doomsian kind of tactic, wouldn't it? Let someone else appear to take your place, have him eliminate your competition while taking all the flak for it, then blindside your "usurper" and claim all the spoils. In fact the 4E version of Dr. Destroyer did something very similar.

Re: how to build: highlander-ish soul catching Yeah, what are we playing here, D&D?

Re: Any more Alien Wars? You're welcome, but all I did was look up JmOz's DH adventures list, which is Stickied to the top of the Digital Hero discussion forum. He's the one who deserves the thanks. In fact I think I'll go Rep him for that now.

Re: Ghostly Possession

Re: how to build: highlander-ish soul catching There are some interesting suggestions along these lines in the excellent fan-created "Highlander HERO" PDF, which you can download for free from here: http://www.starherofandom.com/h_highlander/index.php You might also check out this discussion thread from the Old Forum archives - some of that is pertinent too: http://www.herogames.com/oldForum/FantasyHero/000008.html

Re: 'Possess the recently Dead' thought.... I don't want to give away too much of Hero Games's IP here; but essentially the Bodyjacking construct is Mind Control plus Desolid plus Clinging (to "ride" the body) plus Telepathy (to read the host's thoughts and memories - that last is probably optional). There are various Advantages and Limitations to customize it. Regarding Possession generally, the topic comes up on the boards fairly frequently, and there have been a number of suggestions for how to handle it, both based on "official" published builds and original ideas. Here's a representative sampling of the discussions: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3857 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19400 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23428 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19968 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28354 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32941 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32927

Re: Ghostly Possession In the HERO System Bestiary, a Desolid ghost possessing a living body is written up using Mind Control with the Limitation, "Must Merge With Victim's Body" (-3/4). That appears to subsume the need to "hang on" as the host body moves around. If you want an actual mechanism for the ghost riding in the body, I've seen several custom builds posted here which use Clinging, Affects Solid World. Another approach is to eschew Desolid altogether for this effect, and use Extra-Dimensional Movement, with the "dimension" being the interior of the host body. You then apply the Transdimensional Advantage to whatever Power you may be using to control/animate the host. For your specific request, I personally would use Summon with Expendable Focus (corpse), and add a Mind Link to allow your spirit character to communicate its orders. On the more general front of possessing inanimate objects, the UNTIL Superpowers Database recommends Summon (p. 139), but that requires you to build the Summoned object. Another approach that I personally like was the old "Animate Object" construct from Champions III (pre-Fourth Edition HERO). I'll run it down, excluding elements that no longer fit with the revised HERO System: "Animate Object" is a -1/2 Limitation on Telekinesis. The character must make a Ranged Attack with TK against the object he wants to Animate. Once animated the object may use STR up to 5x the total DEF + BODY of the object. It uses the OCV of the character modified by its range from the character. If the object has more DEF + BODY than TK STR/5, the object won't move, but the character will still have expended END for the attack. The ability of the object to move and do work is based on its shape. It can do Fine Work if its shape is appropriate. Unless the object is attached to something, it can move 1" for every point of TK not used to animate it. The DCV of Animated Objects is based on Size modifiers only.

Re: Leadership Powers Check out the description of Presence Attacks in the rulebook. Inspirational Presence Attacks directed at friendly/allied parties are tailor-made for this kind of effect. I could see buying extra Presence, Only To Inspire (probably -1). Oratory is pretty much a mandatory Skill for motivating people. A successful Skill roll can also add to the aforementioned Presence Attack.

Re: Any more Alien Wars? FWIW there are two adventure scenarios for the Alien Wars setting published in Digital Hero: THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY: Can three races that hate each other set aside their differences long enough to defend their planet in this Alien Wars adventure? DH #20, PAGE 33 YOUR HOROSCOPE FOR: CAPRICORN: This Alien Wars adventure lands your Star Hero characters on an icy lake world full of Xenovores. DH #21, PAGE 13

Re: Genre conventions I've spent time among both groups, and while the combination can exist in one person, it's rare - the average mindset is pretty different. When they do combine successfully, we tend to get people like Stephen Hawking.

Re: Genre conventions Having read this and other threads started by Robyn, I've come to believe that he (she?) is consciously or unconsciously striving to discover a Grand Unified Theory of Imagination: what it is, and how and why it manifests, particularly in story. Robyn seems to approach gaming issues from a different perspective than most of the rest of us here, so we often end up talking past each other. I suspect it's the nature of HEROdom; we're witnessing the frustration of a philosopher interacting with a community dominated by engineers.

Re: Need help with...The List... Well, if the heroes can eventually put it together, the villains can too. It might be interesting if Paragon doesn't always succeed in eliminating the competition - if in fact some of his rivals realize they're being targeted and start fighting back. Master villains often being geniuses, that's not unreasonable. The PCs could find themselves in the middle of a conflict between a known master villain and the still-unknown Paragon. One party or the other might even approach the heroes openly to attempt to recruit them to his side, which could make for some good roleplaying. It's also a good fallback position for you to identify Paragon if your players don't pick up on being manipulated; even smart players can sometimes astonish you with their obliviousness. And of course, there's always the ultimate Champions Universe deus ex machina maneuver: Dr. Destroyer knew about Paragon all along, and isn't really dead...

Re: Need help with...The List... As long as you don't fall into the temptation to make your villain the protagonist of the story, you should be fine. Some GMs enjoy their villainous creations so much, make them so capable and admirable and sympathetic, that they sometimes lose sight of the PCs as the heroes of the story, and that the villain exists to highlight their heroism and to ultimately be defeated by them. It's understandable, but IME nothing poisons a gaming group worse.

Re: Need help with...The List... Dr. MID-Nite, I apologize if this observation is off base, and I don't intend to offend... but from your remarks I feel I should caution you against becoming too enamored with Paragon. I've seen this with the pet characters of some GMs, and for that matter some comics creators *cough*StarlinThanos*cough* - they make their villains too perfect, without exploitable flaw or weakness, and have them effortlessly "deal with" other major villains just to demonstrate to the heroes (or in the case of RPGs, the PCs) just how bad@$$ they are. All too often said villain becomes the focus of the story rather than the heroes. I'm certainly not accusing you of Mary Sue-ism, especially since I don't have the details of how you intend to use Paragon. I just felt the point was worth raising, and having done so I will now shut up and let you run your own game.

Re: Wait, you mean 5ER doesn't have all the rules? Heck, imagine the HG staff's surprise when they found a bunch of hardcopies of the HERO System Resource Kit, many months after they thought they'd run out and dropped any plans to reprint it. There are still copies of that in the Online Store too BTW.