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Steve

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  1. Thanks
    Steve got a reaction from Christopher R Taylor in Muggers, Maniacs, and Murderers Vol. 1   
    Bought the book. I recommend buying it here rather than DriveThruRPG as they only have the PDF for $15, and not the package deal offered in the Hero store.
     
    There are 21 Heroic characters broke out (by my count) in the following way, in order of point totals but not how they appear in the book:
    1 built on 100 + 40 Complications
    1 built on 175 + 50 Complications
    1 built on 175 + 50 Complications (+20 xps)
    1 built on 225 + 75 Complications
    1 built on 225 + 80 Complications
    12 built on 275 + 100 Complications
    1 built on 275 + 100 Complications (+85 xps)
    1 built on 275 + 100 Complications (+250 xps)
    1 built on 275 + 100 Complications (+280 xps)
    1 built on 275 + 100 Complications (+525 xps)
     
    I'm still going through the builds, but they cover quite a range of types and abilities.
     
    Despite the low point total, the first character, The Muffin Man, is quite a vicious piece of work.
     
    The top-pointed one seems suitable for espionage drama, although more like a Mission Impossible movie villain than a James Bond one.
  2. Like
    Steve reacted to DShomshak in Economics and Superhumans   
    In the "Millennium Universe" setting for my campaign, I make super-powers and super-tech a new thing so it hasn't had time to change the world economy. People expect it to, though, and know it can because a few supers came back in time from various possible futures in which it did so.
     
    Most notably, the time-traveling/precognitive hero Doctor Future recruited the PCs from futures in which one megavillains destroyed the world. Destroying the world is an economic change, yes?
     
    The NPC hero Cyberman was accidentally sent back in time from a future in which maimed soldiers were routinely restored and upgraded through bionics. He's responsible for introducing bionic tech to the Millennium Universe. Prosthetics are better than IRL but still very expensive, and actual super-cyborging is only possible for governments and large corporations.
     
    Alien tech has even greater potential. When the small starships piloted by the villainous Intruder and the lawman Officer Pax crashed on Earth, smart people realized the most important technology to be reverse-ingineered might be the proton reactors that powered them. Zetrian proton reactors are safe, reliable nuclear reactors that can be made small enough to power, say, a suit ob powered armor or big enough to power a city. However, Zetrian reactors are made using muonic matter, strange matter, and other substances for which it will take decades to build the requisite infrastructure to produce in quantity. Attempts to build proton reactors of mundane materials have had, well, mixed results. (Such as the megavillain Professor Proton.) But it's only a matter of time until proton reactors make fossil fuels as obsolete as horse-drawn buggies... which is why the villain called the Mahdi hijacked a time portal. In his future, the Middle East stuck with oil and gas to the very bitter end and squandered their sovereign wealth funds in wars, leaving the region geopolitically bankrupt and irrelevant. He is determined both the delay the development of proton reactors, and to conquer a new Caliphate that can use its oil wealth to dominate the world.
     
    Contact with aliens also lets people know that contemporary economic and environmental problems are solvable because other species have solved them -- though it took clear thinking and good will as well as tech that to humans seems super.
     
    "It could, but not yet," gives me maximum dramatic flexibility. Heroes can know they aren't just beating up one bad guy, who's trying to do one bad thing. (Or even trying to force the world into a worse mode.) They can hope that someday, their battles will lead to a better world overall.
     
    Dean Shomshak
  3. Like
    Steve reacted to DShomshak in Economics and Superhumans   
    I built my supplement, Shared Origins: the Dynatron (available through the Hero Store) around this premise. It's a not-uncommon trope in comics that someone invents a way to give themselves super-powers... but somehow, this never spreads very far. The supervillain Red Giant built a power-granting machine, the Dynatron, out of coomercially available tech, some scavenged from junkyards. Other people have successfully used "dynatrons" he built, though no one else seems able to build copies of their own.
     
    After a brief and unimpressive career as a super-robber in a team with friends he also empowered, Red Giant realized he could make immensely more money just selling super-powers. If you've got the money, he's got the origin. Though this approach turns out to have problems of its own. As a business, it's still quite smal and hasn't slid over the edge to world-changing. If you want to know more, read the supplement.
     
    Dean Shomshak
  4. Like
    Steve got a reaction from Doc Democracy in Economics and Superhumans   
    I’m overwhelmed by LL’s responses, but I also worry if he’s shut down any conversation that might happen by being so thorough about Champions Earth.
  5. Like
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Economics and Superhumans   
    Honestly, I had that concern myself. More dialogue can and should be had, and I'd love to read it. I'd hate to think someone wouldn't present their own ideas just because I transcribed all this stuff.
     
    But I also didn't want to avoid highlighting how much the Champions setting explores the implications of super-technology and super powers on society, particularly economics, as your topic requested. It covers the subject more thoroughly and logically than I've seen anywhere else, and offers much for supers GMs to consider.
     
    This is another example of material I had collated for the benefit of the Champions Online community, and having it all handy I couldn't justify to myself not sharing it. Believe it or not, I actually left some less relevant things out.
  6. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Economics and Superhumans   
    There are quite a few superhumans who are employed full-time by national governments or UNTIL, and are therefore paid a regular salary and other benefits. Others supers with a history of working with such groups, like the Champions, may receive some degree of financial and material support. It's not uncommon for well-known heroes or teams to receive grants or donations from national or more local governments, or from private individuals and corporations, as a reward for their continued service to the public. Of course any hero who belongs to a team with a solid financial base will likely be supported by that team.

    It's not unknown for superheroes to use their abilities and public profiles to obtain private sponsorship. The Binary Corporation employs a superhero "mascot," Binary Man, for public relations purposes. Cavalier of Millennium City regularly endorses various companies and products for pay.

    Outside of those avenues, full-time heroes either have to be independently financially secure, or else spend some time working at a more mundane job to make ends meet. That last is most common for heroes with a secret identity, but sometimes superhumans will openly use their powers to make jobs for themselves. For example, the founder of Trans-City Construction, Jeff Baker, gets much use out of his powers of matter transmutation to speed up construction projects, which is a selling point with clients. Champions Universe p. 60 mentions a speedster named Roberta Yelnofsky who founded "Yesterday Delivery" in New York City. Her corporate motto is, "When you need it there yesterday!"
     
    The majority of paranormals on Champions Earth either don't have the type or magnitude of powers to compete in the Superhuman World subculture, or just want to live normal lives. People with minor powers, such as enhanced reflexes, unusual durability, or precognitive flashes, may not even realize they have them. However, some of those people can still have a significant impact. For example, the relatively minor healing powers of the famous Dr. Jeremiah Mugembe have done more to alleviate AIDS in Africa than all the pharmaceutical companies in the world combined. Workers with Habitat for Humanity in the city of Atlanta have frequently been helped by an anonymous benefactor who can construct entire houses overnight.

    Bastion Alpha Security, a high-profile private security company (fully written up in Cops, Crews, And Cabals), includes one of the more intriguing paranormals in that category. Founded by Anderson Powell, the retired superhero Titan, the company's greatest selling point is its secret Bastion Process, which physically augments BAS field agents. The most powerful, and therefore expensive, agents count as low-level superhumans. The Bastion Process was developed by Powell's secret partner, Dr. Ivan Fortus. Unknown even to Powell, Dr. Fortus did not invent or discover the Process. Fortus is a mutant who can covertly extract DNA by touch from one person, and insert it into the cells of another, passing on some qualities of the donor. Dr. Fortus uses Powell's own DNA to give BAS agents some of the former Titan's power.  
  7. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Economics and Superhumans   
    According to Champions Beyond various groups, notably the United States government, have salvaged and studied examples of alien technology from the several invasions and known spaceship crashes, with mixed results. They've had the most success understanding and adapting the tech from the Sirians, i.e. the "War of the Worlds" aliens. The highly biological nature of Qularr technology, including the tendency of the bio-components to decay or become dormant over time, has made it difficult to analyze and mostly incompatible with human tech. Gadroon gravity-manipulating devices appear to utilize principles that humans, even super-scientists, have never imagined, so have eluded deciphering. While trying to comprehend the nonfunctional wreckage of the Malvan ships that Ironclad and Herculan arrived in, has been likened to Neanderthals trying to reverse-engineer a supercollider.

    OTOH the Warlord (Champions Villains Vol. 1: Master Villains) has had considerable success with technology salvaged from a downed "blueboy" (Hzeel) scout ship, even combining it with human technology to exceed the capabilities of the Hzeel themselves. Hzeel tech is also partly biological, but to a lesser degree, and is less advanced, than Qularr devices. (The Hzeel, Gadroon, and Qularr all have full chapters devoted to them in Champions Beyond.)
  8. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Economics and Superhumans   
    There are several (apparently) legitimate tech companies in the official setting which are at the forefront of research and development, and would make good places for scientist PCs to work, make discoveries or breakthroughs, interact with NPCs of similar background, or maybe have an empowering lab accident. All of these are either headquartered in or have major branch offices at Millennium City, since it's a center for cutting-edge research. Aside from additional books which are cited in individual entries below, most of the information about these companies appears in the Millennium City source book.

    Advanced Concepts Industries (ACI): One of the world's largest and most diverse corporations, ACI has fingers in almost every endeavor where there's money to be made. High-tech and chemical manufacturing are high on its list of priorities. While most of its employees are normal people with normal motivations, ACI's founder, president, CEO and majority owner is Franklin Stone (Champions Villains Vol. 1: Master Villains), who has no scruples in bypassing law or ethics in the pursuit of wealth and power; so there are certainly covert nefarious activities that could be investigated or stumbled upon, including scientific projects.

    Angelstone Laboratories: Angelstone initially made its name as an innovative defense contractor, and that remains one of its major focuses, although it's expanded its research over a broad range of applied and theoretical sciences: everything from physics and genetics, to criminology and economics. But it's become best known for its "Superhuman Studies Division" researching super powers and super technology, and activities and behavior of supervillains. It frequently gives presentations and reports to governments and law enforcement on these subjects, and sometimes assists superheroes directly. In this it competes with the Goodman Institute in America, and the Swiss-based l'Institut Thoth (both described in Champions Universe). Angelstone Laboratories is a for-profit company, but will sometimes offer reduced rates to clients in a good cause. Angelstone Laboratories is thoroughly described in Cops, Crews, And Cabals.

    Binary Corporation: This major Millennium City-based company is best known for computer hardware and software, but also researches medical technology, genetics, and is a leader in plasma-based weapon design. It sponsors its own superhero spokesperson, the duplicating Binary Man. BC suffered a major scandal in 2001 when one of its top executives, Monica Knowlton, was revealed to be a Morbane of DEMON, but has since recovered.

    Cambridge Biotechnology: Based in London, Cambridge focuses on medicine, pharmaceuticals, and genetics, with many profitable patents. It was the first company to research the biochemical functions of psionic powers, and has developed tests for detecting and cataloguing such powers, licensing their use by court systems around the world. But Cambridge may be best known for employing the simian super-scientist, Dr. Silverback, at its Millennium City facilities. (Dr. Silverback's write-up is in Champions Universe.)

    Dew Chemical: One of the largest chemical companies in the United States, Dew is also one of the few major corporations which has been based in Detroit/Millennium City since before Dr. Destroyer leveled it. Dew's programs include development of plastics, adhesives and sealants, herbicides and pesticides, and synthetic biochemical compounds.

    Drake-Victoria Inc. (DVI): One of the largest American defense contractors, Drake-Victoria designs military vehicles and weapons, particularly tanks, trucks, rockets and missiles. It continues to research ways to economically manufacture light, reliable powered armor for soldiers. It's also at the forefront of force-field generation technology. In recent years its facilities have been attacked by the supervillain team called the Ultimates (Champions Villains Vol. 2: Villain Teams). Unknown outside of the Ultimates, one of their members, Cyclone, used to work for DVI and has a grudge against them.

    Duchess Industries: A huge multinational corporation based in Bonn, Germany, Duchess Industries has holdings in many fields, including aerospace, nuclear energy, biotechnology, computers and robotics, chemistry and mining. DI is privately owned by the mysterious Duchess Henrietta von Drotte. Von Drotte is secretly one of the highest leaders of VIPER (where she's known simply as "the Duchess") and DI conducts several clandestine research projects for VIPER. VIPER's assistance with industrial espionage, sabotage, and assassination has helped Duchess Industries reach its current stature. (The Duchess and DI receive considerable attention in VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent.)

    Fordham Chemtech: Fordham dominates several niche markets, including manufacturing microchips and other silicoids, and medical films and other related materials. It has several subsidiaries competing in other fields, such as Regor in memory plastics.

    Genex Labs: A relatively small company founded at the start of recombinant DNA engineering, Genex patents include treatments for a range of diseases. However, its profile and profit were greatly raised when it invented the Cyberline treatment which PRIMUS uses to create its cadre of superhuman Avengers.

    Harmon Industries: Almost wholly owned by James Harmon III, HI is a general-purpose defense contractor, with specialties in rocketry and missiles, aerospace and satellites, and infantry weapons. The Harmon family is unaware of James IV's identity as Defender, and considers him a disappointment for not devoting more time and energy to the company.

    Ironwood Industrial Technologies (IIT): One of HI's chief competitors for American space-based defense contracts, Ironwood has its headquarters in MC and major manufacturing facilities in North Detroit. It co-designed UNTIL's GATEWAY space station and contributed to the Champions' V-Jet.

    Kendrick and Company: Professor Daryl Kendrick founded this company after his discovery of his superstrong "kendrium" steel alloy. He's received several government contracts to manufacture armor for tanks and other vehicles. UNTIL's nuclear submarine, the Aegir, has a hull made of kendrium. (The Aegir is written up in UNTIL: Defenders Of Freedom.) Kendrick is believed to have found a loophole in patent laws allowing him to patent his formula while keeping it secret; in fact he bribed some corrupt officials at the Patent Office.

    Pharos Industries: Perhaps the only corporation rivaling the size and diversity of ACI, Pharos has subsidiaries specializing in electronics (particularly supercomputers), biotechnology (notably medical cybernetics), and transportation infrastructure (it designed and built the Millennium City "smart roadway" system).

    Regent Energy: One of the world's largest oil companies, Regent is also a leader in development of alternative energy sources: solar power, geothermal energy, and synthetic gasoline replacements. Its Millennium City offices house some of the top researchers in that field.
  9. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Economics and Superhumans   
    From everything I've read and heard, I can quite confidently state that Champions Earth is for the most part the same as real Earth, only intensified. Social, political, and economic structures and interactions are essentially the same. Modern history and geopolitics are largely unchanged, i.e. the same major events occurred in both worlds, and the familiar players are in place. Even most of the current and historical influential people are shared by both.

    All this super-science has made Champions Earth a better place in a number of ways, as I highlighted earlier on this thread. Some of the things of pressing concern to us real folks are much less of an issue for them. Global warming is less critical. Environmental pollution and degradation are more controlled. Fewer people have to suffer due to disease or injury. The benefits of advanced technology are more accessible and affordable to people around the world.

    I should also point out that what most of society considers the scientific "fringe" is hella smaller on Champions Earth than it is in the real world. With all these radical scientific inventions, not to mention superhuman genetic mutations, multiple alien invasions, rampaging giant monsters, whole cities being shrunken and stolen, and other mind-boggling phenomena they've experienced for generations, humanity seems to have learned to take a lot of weirdness in stride. The majority appear to be inured to the impact of revelations that would spark profound upheaval in our world if they occurred here, like the incontestable existence of non-human intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, often more advanced than humans; or the return of self-professed mythological gods with miraculous powers. I get the impression most people have developed an attitude of, "Been there, done that, and I still have to pay taxes."

    Individuals on Champions Earth have often made their fortunes from particularly innovative discoveries or designs, but that's hardly without real-world precedent. Super-powering mutagens like cyberline, or superstrong metals such as kendrium, aren't fundamentally different from microchips or velcro. However, in keeping with the conventions of comics I spelled out in my first post, various factors restrict really widespread commercialization of developments that are very dangerous, or which would change the world's recognizable familiarity too much.

    But those factors don't eliminate the elevated potential this technology has for destabilizing world security, which gives many people in governments and law-enforcement sleepless nights. In fact that potential is one defining characteristic of the superhero genre. There are many examples in the comics and the Champions Universe of a common thug turning into a supervillain just by getting his hands on a piece of bleeding-edge tech. Actually inventing something radically advanced can significantly alter the balance of power. To use recent fictional examples, various Marvel superhero movies have raised the tremendous risk of unscrupulous parties getting their hands on the plans for arc reactors, or the formula for Pym particles, or vibranium and devices based on it. VIPER's relatively small paramilitary force can compete with much larger armies because it arms all its agents with advanced equipment; while the single greatest factor making Dr. Destroyer the magnitude of menace he is, is his capacity for extraordinary scientific breakthroughs almost on demand.

    It's not at all uncommon for those in possession of dangerous advanced technology to sell products based on it (although rarely the secrets behind it) to evil but otherwise mundane people who wouldn't otherwise have access to them: organized criminals, terrorists or subversives, petty dictators, or aspiring supervillains. While to date none of those developments have turned a relative nobody into an instant global threat, they can become much more of a local danger. I get the impression most of the ultratech sellers are wary of too much destabilizing activity making stopping them a top priority for the whole global community. As one example, VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent p. 132 notes that while VIPER is well able to build nuclear weapons, it eschews doing so for fear that if world governments found out, they would double down on efforts to destroy VIPER before VIPER is ready for world domination.

    Perhaps the most dangerous area of scientific research on Champs Earth is the long-standing and ongoing effort to discover a safe, reliable, economical method to create superhumans. Many parties have engaged in projects with that goal. The Soviet Union had its Directorate Black-12. The US military runs Department 17, only the latest in a long line of American "superhuman soldier" projects. Smaller "rogue states" like Awad and Chiquador actively pursue that line of research, as do supercriminal groups such as VIPER and ARGENT. Any party that succeeds would gain a game changing tactical advantage. Smaller players won't need the facilities and infrastructure for a modern mechanized military to threaten their neighbors, if they can field an army whose soldiers can fly, shoot lightning, and/or throw tanks.

    (Of course Teleios already has that capacity. He hasn't tried to exercise it to date because ruling the world isn't important to him. OTOH the world first learned of Teleios in 1993, when he sold an army of cloned soldiers to Eurostar so they could invade and try to conquer Poland.)
     
  10. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Economics and Superhumans   
    Outside of major industrialized nations, supervillains, and organizations like VIPER and ARGENT, certain smaller (fictional) states on Champions Earth also possess very advanced technology; and in their own ways pose a significant threat to world security.

    Awad, a small nation on the Saudi peninsula, between Yemen and Oman on the Indian Ocean, is becoming an increasing world security problem. The sheiks of Awad, most of whom are closely related to its ironfisted ruler Sultan Thamar el-Hiri, are incredibly wealthy thanks to their country’s vast oil deposits, and care little for how their actions affect others if they can increase their own power and bank accounts. Harsh Muslim fundamentalists, they intensely dislike Western culture in general and the United States in particular, and have for years funded numerous terrorist organizations. Awad supported Iraq during the Gulf War and Iraq War.

    In recent decades Awad has invested extensively in technology, ranging from computers to bio-engineering. As a result, today it’s considered one of the centers of world technological development, though many high-tech firms deal with it reluctantly (if at all) due to its repressive political climate. Some Western officials fear that the Awadis use their high-tech expertise to equip terrorists with weapons and devices that would otherwise be well beyond the reach of most such groups. They also suspect strong ties between Awad and ARGENT and VIPER.

    Western suspicions about Awad’s connection to supercriminal groups are well-founded. For years Awad’s worked closely with both ARGENT and VIPER, providing a haven from extradition for some of their personnel in exchange for cash and technology, allowing them to build special labs and facilities there, and so forth. Recently relationships with VIPER have been strained since the Awadis suspect (correctly) that VIPER took advantage of the chaos during the Iraq War to steal some Awadi technological secrets. As a result, the alliance with ARGENT has become even stronger.

    Rumors about a past joint Iraqi-Awadi program to create superhumans are true. Using a secret lab built in Awad (to avoid U.N. observers in Iraq), Saddam Hussein and Sultan Thamar el-Hiri had hoped to custom-build enough superhuman soldiers to avenge Iraq’s defeat in the Gulf War, take over the Middle East, and establish a chokehold on much of the world’s oil supplies. Unfortunately for them (but fortunately for the world), the program’s only true success was Saddam Hussein's former superhumanly strong personal bodyguard, whom he referred to as Turs al-Sh’ab ("Shield Of The People," written up in Champions Villains Vol. 3). Many failures were dropped in the deep desert to die. The program has been suspended due to the overthrow of Hussein’s regime and the presence of American military personnel in the region, but it’s possible Awad may try to resurrect it with help from ARGENT. Dr. Bohuslav Strasky, who headed UNTIL's own largely-failed attempt to manufacture superhumans, the "Future Soldier Program," has secretly been offered millions by Awad to bring his expertise to that nation. The sultan has a few other hired superhumans on his payroll.

    Larisagrad, located deep in the Ural Mountains, was once a secret Soviet city, but is today an effectively independent city-state. During the Cold War era Larisagrad was where numerous top-secret Soviet research projects were conducted. Merely attempting to enter the city without proper authorization was a capital offense.The foremost of these research projects was Directorate Black-12, the Soviet superhuman soldier program. This project was about as successful as most of the similar American programs — which is to say that it produced a handful of superhumans in exchange for killing, crippling, or driving insane hundreds of “volunteer” test subjects.

    When the Soviet Union crumbled and funding for Larisagrad’s expensive research dried up, the scientists there were faced with a choice. They could become legitimate researchers, competing in the world of commercial scientific research... or they could offer their services to the highest bidder, regardless of purpose or morality. Unwilling to give up their high-class (by Russian standards, anyway) lifestyle, they opted for the latter path. A few scientists who couldn’t stomach the decision fled the city, often ending up with European or American research firms. (Larisagrad officials vehemently deny charges they work for criminal elements, and to date world law-enforcement does not have solid proof of it.)

    It didn’t take long for Larisagrad to develop a reputation for the quality of its work, not to mention the blind eye it turned to what was done with its technology. The scientists there often put their unique acumen and equipment to work creating technology for supervillains, providing medical care for injured superhumans who don't want their condition revealed to the outside world, and so forth. VIPER soon became a frequent customer, as did the Warlord, the Ultimates, the Crimelords, Utility, and various powered armor-wearing supervillains who needed occasional maintenance, upgrades, resupply, or spare parts for their equipment. Thanks to the influx of cash from these clients, most Larisagradians enjoy a standard of life far higher than that of other Russians.

    A “client” who wants to contract Larisagrad’s services contacts any member of the city’s governing council, the Komityet Upravlyeniya Issledovaniyami (“Research Steering Committee,” or KUI). The Committee looks into the request, determines what it can do for the client, and quotes a price. There’s no dickering — a client either accepts the price or walks away (though on occasion the Committee has agreed to be paid in trade or services rather than cash). After a client deposits the nonrefundable full amount into a secret account, the Committee puts Larisagrad’s scientists and factories to work on his behalf. The finished goods are delivered at a time and place specified in the original contract.

    Larisagrad would make a rich prize for many villains and Russian organized crime groups, not to mention the Russian government, so it has plenty of defenses to keep unwanted “visitors” away. Besides the assistance of grateful superhumans they have helped, the most prominent of these defenses is a corps of powered armor-wearing soldiers called the “Larisagrad Division” (or simply, “the Division”). The leader of the Division is Shturm, or “Onslaught,” a superhuman created by Directorate Black-12. Gifted with energy projection and teleportation powers in addition to the powerful suit of battle armor he wears, Shturm has earned the gratitude of the Larisagradians — as well as millions of dollars — keeping their pleasant little home in the Urals safe and secure.

    (Most of the information in this post is transcribed or summarized from Champions Universe, with additional details from Champions Universe: News Of The World and UNTIL: Defenders Of Freedom.)
  11. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Economics and Superhumans   
    Powerful nations, such as the United States or Great Britain, have huge sums of money, well-stocked research facilities, and corps of brilliant scientists at their command — and if they work on something long enough, they may achieve results that would elude lesser strivers. Although most militaries still use standard-tech weapons (explosive-propellant-based bullets and rifles, tanks and howitzers firing explosive shells, manned fighter jets, and so on), the larger and more advanced armies and navies have incorporated some super-technology-derived weapons and systems into their arsenals.

    Some Champions Universe governments have fielded units of soldiers equipped with low-strength powered armor (or at least high-tech defensive gear), made use of advanced spacecraft, and equipped special military and paramilitary forces with blasters and similar super weapons. But even then, they often prefer to keep their super-technology to themselves as much as possible, due to the strategic and tactical advantages it provides. For example, the United States has small squads of light powered armor-wearing soldiers, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with smart targeting capability able to fly at Mach 10, and many other such weapons. None of them provide the US with an overwhelming advantage in combat, but taken together they definitely extend and expand America’s already potent military capabilities.

    In some cases, super-technology developments even trickle down to smaller militaries. The US Department of Defense has expressed concern about countries like North Korea or Awad building and using relatively cheap magnetic “railgun” weapons to shoot down American satellites and planes. Sometimes it seems that for every advance one nation makes, another finds a way to counter it using different super-technology... though the sources from which some lesser nations obtain their super-technology remain a subject of speculation.

    Even mercenaries and mercenary companies get into the act sometimes. A few, seeking competitive advantage both on the battlefield and in the marketplace, have invested in (or otherwise obtained) powered armor suits, energy rifles, advanced robotic vehicles, and other super-tech weapons. Supervillains like Lazer, Mechassassin, and the Steel Commando all got their start as mercenaries (at least in part), and still participate in that part of the global underworld if the money’s right.

    Private super-criminal organizations such as VIPER and ARGENT have also developed weaponry and equipment beyond the conventional, aided by their willingness to disregard ethical research standards. (The link in my signature will take you to considerable information revealed about ARGENT, including its business model.)
     
    More to come.
  12. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Economics and Superhumans   
    Like the mainstream comics companies' universes, Champions Earth features its share of scientific super-geniuses who have invented near-miraculous technologies, and more advanced alien societies who have left samples of their tech behind on Earth. Many comics fans have difficulty accepting that in those universes these inventions and discoveries seem to have had little or no impact on the average person. Technology in the wider world seems stuck on the same level as the real Earth. Many rationalizations have been offered for why that should be, and the Champions setting shares them to a degree: heroes guard the best tech as too dangerous to release; governments classify inventions with military or security applications or risks; many devices aren't cost-effective to mass produce; most people can't grasp the principles discovered by true geniuses or older civilizations; some inventions are irreproduceable accidents, or actually channeling the "inventor's" innate powers.

    However, some of the PnP source books -- notably Champions Universe, Champions Beyond, and Millennium City -- illustrate that new technologies have filtered out to the general public to some extent, and have made qualitative differences in people's lives. Let me run down some of the more significant, obvious, or pervasive differences.

    Advances in medicine and genetics have eliminated, or diminished the impact of, many diseases. Scientists have adapted cybernetic technology first developed for powered armor and similar super-technology to devices that allow people with spinal injuries to walk again, and people with neurological disorders to function without significant impairment.

    Communications has advanced significantly. Throughout the United States, Europe, and many other developed or wealthy countries, virtually everyone has access to computers, smartphones, and similar devices that are easily carried, lightweight, fast, high-memory, extremely user friendly, and have extraordinarily long battery lives. Even in Third World countries, ownership of cellular phones and computers may exceed 50% of the population, thanks to advanced manufacturing processes and materials. Holography has improved to the point where Millennium City features animated three-dimensional advertising billboards.

    High-tech fibers and materials discovered by superhumans, and scientists working with their data, beginning in the Sixties have led to stronger and more comfortable bulletproof vests, lightweight armored panels for military vehicles, more crash-proof civilian cars, and many similar advances.

    Internal combustion vehicles and manufacturing are much cleaner and more environmentally friendly than the machines of old, and major strides have been made in the field of alternative energy. Significant efforts have been made to clean up and repair damage to the environment, and to prevent further damage going forward.

    Travel, whether by air, water, or land, is quicker and safer than ever before. Flights from the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast can be comfortably completed in just two hours in some cases. The "Smart Roadway" system in Millennium City interacts with Vehicle Control Chips in all cars within city limits, allowing traffic authorities to automatically track them, and if necessary shut a car down remotely. When driving on the Millennium City Highway surrounding the city, the VCC lets a central computer take direct control of the cars, practically eliminating accidents.

    While humanity is not yet colonizing other worlds in the solar system, near-space exploration is advancing rapidly. Since 1996 UNTIL has had a fully-functioning space station, GATEWAY, orbiting Earth, with up to 200 inhabitants. The United States launched its own orbital facility, the United States Space Station, in 2006. UNTIL also has the distinction of being the first entity to establish a permanently-manned base on the Moon, Moonbase Serenity, in 2000. It now has over 40 personnel. In late 2004 the United States completed work on the Venus Scientific Outpost, an orbital station designed to study the hothouse planet in detail. It has a crew of eight, six unmanned sensor drones, and three one-man vehicles capable of descending to the middle ranges of the atmosphere. The United States established Ares I, also known simply as the Mars Research Base (or “Marsbase”) in 2008. Marsbase currently houses a dozen scientists, though plans call for expanding it to almost four times that size over the next twenty years.
     
    (More to follow.)
  13. Like
    Steve got a reaction from DShomshak in Economics and Superhumans   
    As a thought experiment, what might be the effect of superhumans on the economy of the world? I was thinking about this today and thought I’d throw it out for discussion.
     
    The main comic book universes tend to try to keep their worlds relatively close to “real life” when it comes to your average person, but what if such restrictions were removed? What if the Champions Universe saw the release of tech breakthroughs by superhuman geniuses that our world can only dream of? Would it warp a campaign beyond the point of fun or believability?
     
    Energy production?
    Materials production?
    Food production?
    Medical treatments?
    Space and undersea exploration?
    Artificial intelligence?
     
    And the list goes on and on.
     
     
  14. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Villain In Name Only   
    In fact, per Champions Villains Volume Two p. 124, The Fox of Crime is the secret patron of the super-thief team, GRAB, in current official continuity. Per his history in that book, the Fox was active during the Seventies and Eighties, but age diminished his teleportation and physical abilities, forcing him to retire. GRAB lets him stay "in the game" without risk to himself. The members of GRAB still don't know who their mysterious backer is, but their crimes are smoother and more profitable than ever, so they don't complain.
  15. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Mr. R in Villain In Name Only   
    OK I am going into history back.
     
    The Fox.  A teleporting thief.  He's basically Danny Ocean (Ocean's Eleven) with super powers.  He'll form a crew to rob something, but usually try to be non violent.  
     
    Also Thunder and Lightning.  A husband-wife duo who were caught, outed, forced to serve as law enforcement, and now that they have done their time, find a normal life impossible.  They commit crimes just to maintain a middle class life style.  Basically Blue collar criminals.
     
    Finally I am going to go out on a limb and say Firewing.  Yeah he wants a good fight.  Yeah he'll throw down just to prove himself tougher.  But on the whole he's not a conqueror, and can even be persuaded to fight on your side IF you can appeal to his sense of honour!
  16. Like
    Steve got a reaction from Lord Liaden in Villain In Name Only   
    The Submariner would be similar to Magneto, in that it depends on the presentation. Sometimes a hero and sometimes a villain. I vaguely recall his more antisocial episodes had some kind of biological explanation for them offered up in a past storyline.
     
    I was really focused on the types of “villains” like Lady Blue and Foxbat, who are on that side of the fence but don’t really do anything all that bad.
  17. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in Villain In Name Only   
    The Champions Universe has quite a few of them: the whole teams of the Cirque Sinister and GRAB (in it for the money, try not to hurt anyone); likewise Arachne, Cateran, Cybermind, Lady Blue (who actually does the Robin Hood thing), Lash, Lodestone, Signal Ghost, Vixen; zany goofs like Bulldozer, Foxbat, El Salto, or Zigzag. (You'll find the first two in Champions Villains Vol. Two, and the rest in Vol. 3.)
  18. Like
    Steve reacted to Lord Liaden in A Thread For Random RPG Musings   
    For some reason, I'm fascinated by the inland Sea of Mhorec, from Hero Games' Turakian Age setting. It's a freshwater "lake" which by my calculations is at least half the surface area of the Mediterranean Sea, somewhere in size between Hudson Bay in northern Canada, and the Gulf of Mexico. The idea of a freshwater lake as big as a major sea is just compelling to me.
     
    That prompted me to research the largest lakes in real-world history, with the record going to the Paratethys Sea, which formed about 12 million years ago. Covering much of what's now Europe and the Near East, this mega-lake was a little larger than the Mediterranean. It was generally shallow, although with much deeper basins within it; but it still held ten times the fresh water of all today's lakes combined. It also supported a thriving ecosystem with unique species of life.
     
    Here's a map of the Paratethys, with an outline of the region's modern geography superimposed:
     

     
    This shows that there's ample precedent for a more diverse and distinctive hydrology in a fantasy world than most of us tend to think of. And it proves you don't need some cataclysmic global geologic upheaval to produce drowned or desertified kingdoms, or unusual sea creatures. Merely enough of a change in climate to raise or lower water levels, or a shift in local geography, for a sea to be cut off from direct access to the world ocean, as with the Paratethys.
  19. Like
    Steve reacted to Old Man in A Thread For Random RPG Musings   
    So many strongly held opinions about magic!  Although that is pretty normal--in the fantasy fiction discussion groups I frequent, "hard" vs. "soft" magic systems are always a topic of lively discussion. Naturally that would carry over to RPGs.
     
    My preferences tend to come down on the "soft" side of the spectrum, i.e. mysterious and poorly understood.  I find that more well defined systems, in fiction, are uninteresting--being fully understandable, they become esoteric.  In some cases this also leads to some strange inconsistencies with the setting.
     
    As others have mentioned, mysterious-and-poorly-understood magic is tough to do in any RPG that attempts to be balanced.  Hero manages to at least sort of address the subject with skill rolls, Side Effects, and other disadvantages.  Other systems, like Ars Magica, address it by leaving a certain amount of wiggle room in the effect.  Or in the more lightweight systems, almost not having a system at all.
     
    What really sets Hero apart is that its flexibility allows it to cover multiple magic systems.  You can have the wizards of the Fire College go up against the Wild Pool Magicians with the assistance of the Vancian Amnesiacs.  After four decades of fantasy gaming I have yet to see any other system that can really do this.  Usually the best they can do is have you pick spells from a different list.  But the point is that Hero can really do both hard and soft magic, and I'm frankly astonished that no other game system has really tried.
     
    Clerical magic is a whole other ballgame, as it directly involves the theology of the setting.  It's hard to be an atheist when priests are slinging flame strikes and blade barriers.  At that point, religion becomes less a matter of faith and more one of devotion and adherence.  It's a weird side effect of D&D video game magic, and to me it smacks of football teams granting magic powers to its craziest fans.  I have toyed with the idea of requiring clerical spells (prayers?) to be bought with Invisible Power Effects, just to make it a teeny bit less obvious to onlookers that The Gods Walk Among Them.  That only works for certain effects, but it does maintain a lot of the mystery.  Arcane magic might benefit from the same.
  20. Like
    Steve reacted to RavenX99 in Restricted power origins campaigns   
    I've been watching the entire X-Men movie franchise in like 2 weeks, and it really made me think about this... in the movies, there are no other supers, just mutants.  In the comics, the "mutant panic" didn't feel so real because there were so many other supers... "Cap'n America and the Avengers and that sorcerer dude are the good guys, but them damn muties, they need to be locked up!"  It's a lot more believable when it's just "damn muties" and _none_ of them are considered heroes until the shift in Dark Phoenix.
     
    So I really think this kind of focus can mean a lot if you want to explore something like "mutant panic" without diluting it.  Or like my cyborg game, CHROME... the whole focus was megacorps and misuse of technology and using people as tools.  (Because the cyborgs are all "owned" by somebody.)  I was reading some commentary on the Gestalt universe, and how Bennie diluted the concept by giving players so many options to have powers without being a gestalt.  And this is one of the dangers of such a narrow focus... you really need all your players on-board with the concept.  Because either you're pushing them into a concept they didn't really want to play, or you're diluting the world concept by letting players create exceptions.  And I've learned when you let players create exceptions, over half your players will want to be an exception, because so many players are looking to be "more special" than the other special people.  (I once had 5 players agree, with no objections, to all play wood elves from the same village with no contact with the outside world... exactly 1 player gave me what I asked for.  I got an outcast who was not allowed to interact with the village, one raised by humans not knowing they were an elf, one who had left the village to apprentice to a human fighter, and a human who wanted to be an elf.  They were all interesting concepts, but they broke the fundamental nature of what the campaign was supposed to be about.)
  21. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Christopher R Taylor in The Most Grandiose Crime?   
    Its not enormously grandiose but one of my favorite scenarios Hero published was in the 4th edition Viper book, and it goes like this.
     
    A celebrity who has a chain of restaurants* opens one in The City.  Viper comes over with a powerful flying ship and uses gravity control to rip the entire building, including all the dignitaries and celebrities inside, and hang it in the air.  Then VIPER demands all of them pay a ransom or they will drop the building.  Obviously destroying or damaging the ship will cause the same result.
     
    *They clearly meant Planet Hollywood and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but had to file the serial numbers off, but I used them in my campaign.
     
    It was a good time for all, including a Hero who was inside the restaurant with his family.
     
    This is the kind of Champions adventure I love.  Does it make sense?  Kinda?  Is there any real chance that VIPER could get away with it?  Nah.  But its fun and exciting and requires more careful thought than "punch the bad guy" with real dramatic challenge but not too depressing or deep.  This is the kind of VIPER I like, not terrorists, not super serious spy masterminds, but comic book bad guys who do comic book crimes.
  22. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Grailknight in The Most Grandiose Crime?   
    The last truly grandiose plan I dreamed up was a riff on the follow up to Age of Ultron. There's a giant vibranium spike sitting under that lake in Sokovia, along with the wreckage of several antigravity engines.
     
    My villain wanted to collude with the Sokovian government and repair enough to make a floating orbital platform the size of a large stadium and from there begin an elevator, orbital ring and asteroid mining. Naturally, world governments would not agree but once launched it would have missile defense arrays and kinetic bombardment capability and it's own team of supers on hand.
     
    A very grandiose Thunderbolts plot and for the kicker the villain offers to allow all heroes to join him and share in the leadership of the platform. He really does want to lead mankind to a brighter future but feels we needs a strong guiding hand to steer us there. He'd even be willing to step down for a Superman or captain America type to take over if that would build trust.
  23. Like
    Steve got a reaction from Beast in A Puppeteer Parasite Plague   
    One use I could foresee would be as sleeper agents. If they have programmed directives beyond hiding their true nature, reproducing and infecting more humans, quite a bit of intrigue could be built up.
  24. Like
    Steve got a reaction from Old Man in A Thread For Random RPG Musings   
    The only magic systems that I’ve ever seen approach this would be Ars Magica and Mage: The Ascension.
  25. Thanks
    Steve reacted to Tech in The Most Grandiose Crime?   
    Don't know if this is grandoise but Foxbat had a list of things he was going to get, for his collection of course. Two of the unusual items were: a heroes costume (or part of it), and the mayors Toupee'. He managed to get a glove and the mayors toupee. Surprisingly, the battle turned into a keep-away game with the toupee bouncing from hand to hand. He almost got away with the heroes glove but a superspeedster nabbed it at the last moment. Poor Foxbat.
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