Steve

This is a campaign idea I've been thinking about recently to use with my current gaming group someday.
 
Second Chances is a boarding house set up to assist supervillains in their efforts at reintegrating back into society after they've served out their sentences in Stronghold, maybe for those who've gotten released early for good behavior or after serving on the Champions Universe's version of the Suicide Squad. It's a government-sponsored halfway house dealing in supervillains. It might even make for a decent convention game background.
 
My thought was to use it as the basis for a PC team, putting together former supervillains into a ragtag group of anti-heroes that actually can do some good together. Think Guardians of the Galaxy, only made up of parolees. It could also work for a Dark Champions: The Animated Series sort of setting.
 
One of the things that the government would do is provide new secret IDs for each parolee in their efforts at rehabilitation, so they would all have the Social Complications: Criminal Record and Secret ID, maybe at a reduced level for the Secret ID, since it is one known to the government. Watched by PRIMUS (or another group that deal with supercriminals) would also seem to make sense.
 
What sort of supervillains might work from the current CU as parolees? Shrinker and Foxbat might make for a couple of interesting fellow parolees, but who else?

Hero System. Here is the store link: Journey To The Center Of The Earth

This is a campaign idea I've been thinking about recently to use with my current gaming group someday.
 
Second Chances is a boarding house set up to assist supervillains in their efforts at reintegrating back into society after they've served out their sentences in Stronghold, maybe for those who've gotten released early for good behavior or after serving on the Champions Universe's version of the Suicide Squad. It's a government-sponsored halfway house dealing in supervillains. It might even make for a decent convention game background.
 
My thought was to use it as the basis for a PC team, putting together former supervillains into a ragtag group of anti-heroes that actually can do some good together. Think Guardians of the Galaxy, only made up of parolees. It could also work for a Dark Champions: The Animated Series sort of setting.
 
One of the things that the government would do is provide new secret IDs for each parolee in their efforts at rehabilitation, so they would all have the Social Complications: Criminal Record and Secret ID, maybe at a reduced level for the Secret ID, since it is one known to the government. Watched by PRIMUS (or another group that deal with supercriminals) would also seem to make sense.
 
What sort of supervillains might work from the current CU as parolees? Shrinker and Foxbat might make for a couple of interesting fellow parolees, but who else?

This is a campaign idea I've been thinking about recently to use with my current gaming group someday.
 
Second Chances is a boarding house set up to assist supervillains in their efforts at reintegrating back into society after they've served out their sentences in Stronghold, maybe for those who've gotten released early for good behavior or after serving on the Champions Universe's version of the Suicide Squad. It's a government-sponsored halfway house dealing in supervillains. It might even make for a decent convention game background.
 
My thought was to use it as the basis for a PC team, putting together former supervillains into a ragtag group of anti-heroes that actually can do some good together. Think Guardians of the Galaxy, only made up of parolees. It could also work for a Dark Champions: The Animated Series sort of setting.
 
One of the things that the government would do is provide new secret IDs for each parolee in their efforts at rehabilitation, so they would all have the Social Complications: Criminal Record and Secret ID, maybe at a reduced level for the Secret ID, since it is one known to the government. Watched by PRIMUS (or another group that deal with supercriminals) would also seem to make sense.
 
What sort of supervillains might work from the current CU as parolees? Shrinker and Foxbat might make for a couple of interesting fellow parolees, but who else?

This is a campaign idea I've been thinking about recently to use with my current gaming group someday.
 
Second Chances is a boarding house set up to assist supervillains in their efforts at reintegrating back into society after they've served out their sentences in Stronghold, maybe for those who've gotten released early for good behavior or after serving on the Champions Universe's version of the Suicide Squad. It's a government-sponsored halfway house dealing in supervillains. It might even make for a decent convention game background.
 
My thought was to use it as the basis for a PC team, putting together former supervillains into a ragtag group of anti-heroes that actually can do some good together. Think Guardians of the Galaxy, only made up of parolees. It could also work for a Dark Champions: The Animated Series sort of setting.
 
One of the things that the government would do is provide new secret IDs for each parolee in their efforts at rehabilitation, so they would all have the Social Complications: Criminal Record and Secret ID, maybe at a reduced level for the Secret ID, since it is one known to the government. Watched by PRIMUS (or another group that deal with supercriminals) would also seem to make sense.
 
What sort of supervillains might work from the current CU as parolees? Shrinker and Foxbat might make for a couple of interesting fellow parolees, but who else?

This is a campaign idea I've been thinking about recently to use with my current gaming group someday.
 
Second Chances is a boarding house set up to assist supervillains in their efforts at reintegrating back into society after they've served out their sentences in Stronghold, maybe for those who've gotten released early for good behavior or after serving on the Champions Universe's version of the Suicide Squad. It's a government-sponsored halfway house dealing in supervillains. It might even make for a decent convention game background.
 
My thought was to use it as the basis for a PC team, putting together former supervillains into a ragtag group of anti-heroes that actually can do some good together. Think Guardians of the Galaxy, only made up of parolees. It could also work for a Dark Champions: The Animated Series sort of setting.
 
One of the things that the government would do is provide new secret IDs for each parolee in their efforts at rehabilitation, so they would all have the Social Complications: Criminal Record and Secret ID, maybe at a reduced level for the Secret ID, since it is one known to the government. Watched by PRIMUS (or another group that deal with supercriminals) would also seem to make sense.
 
What sort of supervillains might work from the current CU as parolees? Shrinker and Foxbat might make for a couple of interesting fellow parolees, but who else?

This is a campaign idea I've been thinking about recently to use with my current gaming group someday.
 
Second Chances is a boarding house set up to assist supervillains in their efforts at reintegrating back into society after they've served out their sentences in Stronghold, maybe for those who've gotten released early for good behavior or after serving on the Champions Universe's version of the Suicide Squad. It's a government-sponsored halfway house dealing in supervillains. It might even make for a decent convention game background.
 
My thought was to use it as the basis for a PC team, putting together former supervillains into a ragtag group of anti-heroes that actually can do some good together. Think Guardians of the Galaxy, only made up of parolees. It could also work for a Dark Champions: The Animated Series sort of setting.
 
One of the things that the government would do is provide new secret IDs for each parolee in their efforts at rehabilitation, so they would all have the Social Complications: Criminal Record and Secret ID, maybe at a reduced level for the Secret ID, since it is one known to the government. Watched by PRIMUS (or another group that deal with supercriminals) would also seem to make sense.
 
What sort of supervillains might work from the current CU as parolees? Shrinker and Foxbat might make for a couple of interesting fellow parolees, but who else?

I've been playing in a Monster Hunter game for a few months now.
 
After each game, I mock up a book cover to commemorate each of our adventures.
 

 


 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 
And, for the holidays, I figured we'd send Christmas cards to our clients.
 

 
 
 
 

I was reading through the 6th edition Champions book when this little gem popped out on page 143:
 
 
The high DCV martial artist is great up until his or her personal DCV doesn't matter. A GM can also easily fix DCV escalation by applying defense campaign limits. The campaigns I'm in tie the DCV max to your speed. The higher your speed, the more avoidance-defense you can have. The lower your speed, the more soak-defense you can have. Those who want to play both fast and invulnerable have to compromise on both.

This came up a few years ago, and I answered as follows:
 
 

Champions - Return to Edge City - King Arthur Is Public Domain
The Usual Gang of Idiots

Scooter ‘Hero Shrew’ Sorex - Superstrong but not completely stupid manimal
Gareth ‘Hardlight’ Lowell - Geek CEO with hardlight holograms
Allana ‘Superhero Name To Be Announced’ - Literal Batwoman
Chris 'Flux' Jones - Paranoid computer wizard
'Fireflash' Helstrom - And you thought YOUR teenage years were a problem

Black Paladin - Actual Arthurian villain
Talisman - Gritty 90's Reboot of Bewitched
Morningstar - Big Demonic A-hole With a Big Spiky Club
Shadow Dragon: Master of Black Chi

A picture of the week’s villain is posted up. He’s exceptionally bad news, and has allies almost as dangerous.

Hardlight: He looks cool - I like him.
GM: That’s the BLACK PALADIN!
Hardlight: I hate him - let’s kill him.
Flux: Sorry, let’s what???
Hero Shrew: Can we do what they did in that movie?
Hardlight: Sure, what movie?
Hero Shrew: Where they cut his arms and legs off and he says it’s only a flesh wound.
GM: You’re joking, but this guy knew and HATES King Arthur.
Hero Shrew: Who said I was joking?

Allana intercepts the Paladin and his flying Destrier, scoops them up with her wings, and slaps them hard into the ground. Right next to Fireflash.

GM: Let’s hope the steed’s barding works.
Black Paladin: My thanks! *drawing his sword, Eater of Shadows, and slashing at Fireflash, who gets her forcefield up only just in time* Interesting!

Evidently Black Paladin was looking forward to a mildly challenging fight.

Hero Shrew: This is going to be expensive for the city. But if we can take him down it’ll be worth it.
GM: Or just driving him away. Thwarting counts too.
Fireflash: And we’re pretty good at thwarting people.
Hero Shrew: Frustrating is not the same as Thwarting.

Hardlight: Old-fashioned are you? Very well - PHOTON BLADE!
GM: With your DEX of 15? This will be hilarious.
Hero Shrew: Are you going to do the WHUMM WHUMM noises too?

He actually manages to hit the bastard too - perhaps the Black Paladin wasn’t expecting lightsabres.

GM: You actually cut him - guess who’s his bitch next round? He’s not Stunned.
Hero Shrew: Surprised, maybe, that Gareth of all people managed to injure him.
Black Paladin: You cut me. YOU CUT ME!
Hero Shrew: It’s only a flesh wound!

Hardlight hurriedly turns his photon blade into armour, and just in time - it even holds up to the knight’s blade.

Flux: You realise you’re just making more trouble for yourself? You managed to hit him with a sword and then your shield was better than his.

Morningstar, Shadow Dragon and Talisman emerge from wisps of black smoke. And another combatant enters the field,crashing through the fence around Weyland’s smithery! Some kind of golem, but not the iron one we saw patrolling earlier.

Hero Shrew: Uh oh.
Fireflash: And I imagine they’re not very happy with me.
Morningstar: ROUND TWO!
GM: Morningstar was given orders - lets see if he follows them.

Morningstar puts everything into a charge against Hero Shrew, but Scooter isn’t even stunned, bouncing back to his feet and grinning hugely in anticipation of a fight where he doesn’t have to hold back. Shadow Dragon generates a field of blackness, to see if Fireflash is vulnerable to such - just as well he didn’t target Hardlight, who very much IS vulnerable to shadow attacks. Of course the Paladin’s ‘horse’ Darkling wants to get in on the fun too, and Battle Taxis Talisman over next to Flux.

Flux: …. Hello?
Talisman: Hello.

Morningstar come over to say hi too, and Flux is soon held by the throat. Not ideal. Especially when Shadow Dragon cloaks the five of them in more shadow.

Hero Shrew: Well, guess I’ll have to punch Black Paladin in the kidneys instead then.

The battle that ensues doesn’t go as planned for anybody - every time the heroes try to pair off against an appropriate opponent, the bad guys instead switch their attentions to an increasingly panicky Flux who is only barely avoiding them by teleporting along the chain-link fence. We DO learn that Allana’s echolocation can see through Shadow Dragon’s darkness powers perfectly well, which is unfortunate for Shadow Dragon.

Fireflash: Take out the minions! Black Paladin is too dangerous to take on when he has help!
Allana: He’s only inflicted a single point of stun so far.

Black Paladin: Really Miss Helstrom, you really think your powers are enough to deal with me?

Hero Shrew keeps running out of nearby opponents.

Hero Shrew: Guess I’m punching the horse.

Yet another complication arises - somebody is trying to snipe Talisman with magical blasts. And ANOTHER mystery sniper shoots Hero Shrew, with an armour-piercing rifle.

Hero Shrew: ****ing OW! That ****ing hurt!

Allana proves that unnatural horses do indeed make good improvised weapons by using Darkling the Destrier as one against Talisman, before that sniper with the high-powered rifle tries to shoot her in the head too. There certainly seems to a pattern forming here - they’re using deadly attacks on the rest of us, but only Entangles and Grabs on Flux. Add to that hiring Weyland Smith to make those demon-enhanced exo-suits, and trying to forcibly recruit Guiltrider, it looks like they’re really here to kidnap Flux.

GM: I want you, I want you, I want you as a new recruit!
Flux: Save the technomancer, dammit!
Talisman: Look, just ring his bell long enough for me to take him!
Black Paladin: Very well, my sweet.

Shadow Dragon plays possum, and is nearly killed by Fireflash when she spots him trying to sneak away.

GM: Good thing you saw the blood splatter when the first part of the blast hit him, and pulled back your attack. ‘What the- I could have killed him!’

Hardlight bubbles Morningstar - although that might be just to stop Hero Shrew from kicking his head off - but it seems Talisman has giving up on the fight, and teleports her gang away, even out of the anti-teleport bubble.

Black Paladin: Dear - we will have words about this.

GM: Congratulations - you survived combat with the Dark Kingdom.
Hero Shrew: *swaying a bit* So, who’s hurt?
Flux: Nobody on our team.
Fireflash: Yes we are, he cut me!
Hero Shrew: *swaying more* That’s nice.
GM: And now the rest of you realise Scooter was shot.

It’s true - that sniper with the armour-piercing rifle hurt him quite badly, even if his later bullets just bounced off Allana. Just as well there's an angel floating around dispensing healing. Where did that come from, exactly? Perhaps that other, magical, sniper, that was taking potshots at the bad guys.

Hero Shrew: Somebody was shooting at Talisman while she was all transparent, and I don’t think it was any of us. Anybody know who that was?
Allana: *looking down the alleyway with her echolocation*
Mystery Wizard: Oh crap. Well, time to reveal myself.
Hero Shrew: Do we have to fight you now?
Mystery Wizard: No, why would you do that?
Hero Shrew: I don’t know - I’ve lost a lot of blood and I’m not thinking very clearly.
Mystery Wizard: An associate warned me that a great evil would be worked tonight.
Allana: Just a minute, I need to check whether Weyland was in that burning building.
Mystery Wizard: Oh, he was. At first I thought it was him that would perpetrate the evil. Then I thought it would be the cultists. But then, of course, the Black Paladin showed his hand.

We really don’t want another fight right now, and after a cryptic warning to his fellow Magus, the wizard and a large not-a-husky leave through a magical portal.

Fireflash: Anything else we need to do tonight?
Flux: I know a great Shawarma place.

But while on the subject of roasted meat, we check the burning building for the body of Weyland Smith. By the looks of it, he burned from the inside out. A bit odd, although it seems likely he told his associates that we had been sniffing around, so they could plan the ambush. Scooter notices that there are an awful lot of crows hanging around, despite the late hour.

Hero Shrew: You can’t eat him, he’s evidence!

Flux suspects this is all related to an recent unpleasant incident in Millennium City, involving the Black Paladin, Talisman, the resurrection of the Paladin’s long-dead lover, and a couple of people unwillingly transformed into servants. And Shadow Dragon was calling Black Paladin ‘Master’, instead of ‘Boss’. All very worrying, especially if Black Paladin is trying to add Flux to his collection.

Flux: That’s it, I’m building a Faraday Cage when I get back to the base - guess where I’M sleeping tonight!

Hero Shrew: So, Black Paladin and his minions are playing Pokemon Go and they’re collecting Mage types.
Fireflash: … Yeah that about describes it.
Hero Shrew: And apparently they have a sniper now, too.
Flux: I don’t remember seeing a sniper.
Hero Shrew: I can show you the hole in my side, and I’m telling you it wasn’t moths.

Hero Shrew: You want to send Witchcraft a text message? ‘You sister is collecting mages for her boyfriend’?

GM: The more effort you put into making a force bubble teleport-proof, the easier it is to just punch your way out.
Hero Shrew: Which is why you break their arms and legs first, THEN put them in a force-bubble.

We should probably ask the Voodoo Crew if anybody tried to recruit or kidnap them. And find out exactly how many more of those demon-enhanced exo-suits might be out there. The odds are there are at least 7 more.

Hero Shrew: We can’t even ask Weyland Sandford how many of the exo-suits he modified.
Flux: Sure we can, we know the Voodoo Crew.
Allana: OK, let’s change that to ‘we can, but probably shouldn’t’.

And of course, we’re not sure why the DEMON cultists showed up - it’s possible they were here to recruit Weyland too.

Fireflash: And it means there’s a DEMON base around here too, so we should probably find that and bring the hammer down.
GM: That’ll be entertaining - they LOVE using Christian churches as a front.
Hero Shrew: They don’t even have the common decency of pretending to be Scientologists so we don’t have to feel bad about levelling the building.
GM: Not even DEMON messes with the Church of Scientology.

But psychometric readings of their glowy sticks proves we got them them all already - this team of cultists were probably here to set up a cell in Edge City, so we’ve set them back badly.

Why does the Black Paladin want animated suits of armour anyway? And does it relate to his purported personal knowledge of King Arthur et al.?

Allana: The evil knights … of the pentagon table… or whatever.

Hero Shrew talks with the cops, since the other four members are too distracted to notice.

Hero Shrew: Hi guys. We got these guys, but Black Paladin, Talisman, and the other two got away.
ECPD: Other two?
Hero Shrew: Yeah, Dragon Boy and … Morningstar? Shadow Dragon! That’s it. But we got these guys and their glowy sticks. Oh, and we found a body in the wreckage there, but honestly I’m not sure it’s the real thing, so if we can be there for the autopsy, that’d be dandy.
Hardlight: Oh Christ, Scooter is talking to the police. *runs over*
Hero Shrew: I mean, if I knew Black Paladin and DEMON were after me, I’d fake my own death and get out of town, wouldn’t you?
ECPD: No comment.
Allana: Oh Christ, Hardlight is talking to the police. *runs over*
Flux: She hasn’t been with us that long, how does she know that ‘Scooter and Gareth talking to the cops’ is a Code Scarlet situation?

What is Black Paladin up to?

Hardlight: Well, we’ll ask him next time we see him - I’m sure he’ll monologue about it for ten minutes.
GM: No he won’t - he’ll just put his sword through you.
Hero Shrew: Can we get a clue from his Amazon wishlist?
Flux: Can you imagine if villains really did maintain a social media profile?
Hero Shrew: I’m damn sure Foxbat does.

Flux checks his magical tablet for any info on the Paladin, recorded in the Akashic Record. Apparently he’s the real deal - a genuine enemy of Camelot.

Allana: Is he trying to set up his own version of Arthur’s Court?
Hero Shrew: What’s the opposite of Round?
Fireflash: Square?
Hero Shrew: Donut? They all sit in the middle.
Allana: But the point of the Round Table was equality.
GM: Yeah, not really the Black Paladin’s thing.

GM: Galahad’s still around though. In Stronghold Prison.
Hero Shrew: Wait, what?
GM: For one hundred counts of murder. Sure he was mind-controlled at the time, but he plead guilty to all charges. He says that he would never have succumbed to the mind-control if there wasn’t some flaw in his character.

We should probably ask him about the Black Paladin.

Hero Shrew: We don’t need face to face, video interview will do.
GM: Nope. They don’t let tech near some of the super-criminals on that level.
Flux: There are villains that can jump via transmissions.
Hero Shrew: You, for example.
Flux: They don’t let me NEAR where they keep supervillains.

Flux: Who would he think are suitable recruits for the Knights of the Anti-round?
Hero Shrew: Knights of the Donut.
GM: At a guess, Lightning Man, Cloaca-
Hero Shrew: … What?
Allana: An unpleasant individual to be around.
GM: It just means ‘dark’. And somebody, not Talisman, to be court wizard. Talisman is his Queen.
Hero Shrew: Are Lightning Man and Cloaca in custody?
GM: Hell no.
Allana: Lightning Man keeps getting into cockfights with somebody in Brisbane. He’s one of about 4 Australian superhumans.

There’s a few other candidates out there, but most of them are too independent of character to submit to Black Paladin’s leadership. The fact that Black Paladin is currently the Earthly Champion of Baphomet rules out some of the others too. Of course, Morningstar and Shadow Dragon were behaving a little oddly, so they might not get a choice in the matter. The ideal candidate would be Professor Muerte, but he’s been dead for years - sealed into his armour by a minion and dumped into the Pacific.

And Talisman and Shadow Dragon were recently spotted on a boat off Baja, heading out to sea.

Hero Shrew: F***!!!

But that was a month ago, shortly after that other resurrection ritual they successfully did. And there’s another link we know about too - the mercenary Killzone regarded Muerte as a father figure, and her Doom Troopers are the last remnant of Muerte’s organisation Terror Inc.

Fireflash’s research finally unearths an alarming fact - it’s not ten exo-suits that have vanished off the books - it’s fifty. She has brilliant idea - the exo-armour may have vanished off the face of the earth, but they’re still going to need specialist tools for maintenance. And the synthetic muscle will need feeding.

GM: ‘It’s your job to keep these suits running’ ‘Do I have a budget?’ ‘No’ ‘... You realise I’ll have to steal the stuff I need, right?’ ‘I don’t care’. And Tyrell Corp recently had one of their Robot Maintenance workshops raided.

At least we’re on good terms with the ECPD, although they may look askance at Flux doing rituals in their evidence locker.

Flux: ‘What’s he doing with that rubber chicken?’
GM: No no no - he might be a technomage, but the last time he used a rubber chicken it went cluck.

The ritual apparently conjures up a living canine Tamagotchi sprite, which escapes through a phoneline.

Hero Shrew: What the hell was that?
Flux: Ask me again in about 14 hours.

It also tracks down the stolen tools to part of Old Monterey. And something in Old Monterey sets off the zombie detector that Flux made for Hero Shrew, after that whole incident at the shopping mall.

The numbers quoted above have been my experience in using Damage Negation as a martial artist defense.
 
Since Damage Negation goes first out of all defenses, reducing the number of dice before they even get rolled against the character, a character can actually ignore low level damage, which means minions and mooks can be waded through without worrying a lot about them. It also has a significant effect in campaigns that use Hit Locations that should not be ignored. I'd far prefer getting hit with a 8DC attack and using 4 levels of Damage Negation against it rather than 50% Damage Reduction. 
 
By making it Restrainable, it actually nicely simulates dodging ability versus minions and mooks that is seen in the movies, which makes it a bit more effective than Damage Reduction in such cases. Against an equivalent-level opponent, it also simulates the ability to take damage while allowing some BODY damage to leak through.
 
I haven't found it to be overly difficult to apply in combat, since it just reduces the Active Points of an attack. It's not too strenuous of an exercise to back calculate the base DC by reversing the Advantages calculation against the reduced amount of Active Points. While this isn't exactly how the rulebook explains how to do it, it has worked for me as a GM. So, 10DC attack with +1 in Advantages is 100 Active Points, less 6 levels of Damage Negation (-30 Active Points) yielding 70 Active Points or 7DC to roll. In cases with AOEs, just roll a different color for the Damage Negation portion and ignore that damage for the character with Damage Negation.
 
I also like applying the Limitation that it only works against certain types of damage to further fine-tune it against special effects. A fire user with 10 levels of Damage Negation that only affects fire damage, for example.

One power I've begun gaining a greater appreciation for when building a martial artist is Damage Negation. By building it with Nonresistant, Nonpersistent and Restrainable, the cost is only 2.5 points per level. Buying 4-6 levels of Damage Negation and a modest amount of PD/ED gives a pretty decent expert at evading damage. I've built a handful of Heroic-level martial artist characters this way, and they seem to work out okay in combat.

I think Damage Negation is an option that has not yet been well evaluated as a game management tool. 
 
A Super with, say, 25 defenses, 15 resistant, in a 12 DC game will never take BOD from a normal attack, and seldom from a killing attack.  That's fine if the intent is that BOD damage is rare in the game, but some source material sees Supers of equivalent power do BOD damage to one another pretty routinely, and a more powerful foe may hospitalize his opponent.  [Anyone remember the Marvel 2 in 1 where the Thing is in the hospital after battles with Champion and Gladiator?]
 
For this, Damage Negation may be a better choice.  With the defenses above, a typical normal attack gets 17 STUN past defenses, and a typical KA (14x2) manages only 3 STUN past defenses.
 
Change that to, say, 6 DC Damage Negation and 8 defenses, all resistant.  Now that normal attack manages 13 STUN past defenses, and an average KA gets 6 STUN through.  But above average rolls can also punch a bit of BOD through.
 
Against a 15 DC opponent, our Defenses-based Super takes 27.5 average STUN and no BOD.  Our Negation-based Super  takes 23.5 STUN and 1 BOD - that larger attack is doing real injury.  A KA will average 2.5 BOD and 13 STUN.
 
This would add a much higher level of lethality to a Supers game.  In a typical Silver/Bronze age game, that's not really desirable, but a more iron-age feel (higher risk combat) can be better achieved by ensuring BOD damage is a more real possibility.

One power I've begun gaining a greater appreciation for when building a martial artist is Damage Negation. By building it with Nonresistant, Nonpersistent and Restrainable, the cost is only 2.5 points per level. Buying 4-6 levels of Damage Negation and a modest amount of PD/ED gives a pretty decent expert at evading damage. I've built a handful of Heroic-level martial artist characters this way, and they seem to work out okay in combat.

One power I've begun gaining a greater appreciation for when building a martial artist is Damage Negation. By building it with Nonresistant, Nonpersistent and Restrainable, the cost is only 2.5 points per level. Buying 4-6 levels of Damage Negation and a modest amount of PD/ED gives a pretty decent expert at evading damage. I've built a handful of Heroic-level martial artist characters this way, and they seem to work out okay in combat.

Die Hard: the story of a family away from home witnessing miracles ("You asked for miracles; I give you the FBI") and the rise of a savior.

Never forget what happened one Christmas at Nakatomi Tower...
 

 

Will you please knock it off with the Trump bashing?  Take it to the political thread, not here, Okay?

If you have them, the new Kickstarter CCCC (Champions Character Creation cards) take a lot of difficulty out of making characters.
 
My group built 5 characters in about 10 minutes total - fleshing out is more but still the concept was enough for us to run the group through an adventure right away.

Concluding "Chiller Frost" aka "The Weather Bomb"
 
Requiem's TV announcement gave a 72 hour deadline for the government of Massachusetts to surrender, so a lot of people in Boston figure they'll leave town just in case.  This causes a rash of break-ins at deserted homes and small businesses.
 
Nexus:  But why are people doing that?
GM:  Because some people generally suck.
 
There's also a rash of false Deathstroke sightings reported to police, PRIMUS, and Just Cause. 
 
Shadow Boxer:  Let's trace some of these calls.
GM:  How?
Shadow Boxer:  Just use Caller ID.
GM:  You do realize that it's not all that hard to spoof Caller ID, don't you?  There's an app for that; it doesn't even cost points.
 
The heroes decide to have their PR guy route all those false calls to the police.
 
Nexus:  There's a lot more cops than there are of us, and they get paid to deal with this crap.
 
More disturbing, the Institute for Human Advancement (legitimate front for the mutant-hunting Purity League) uses Deathstroke's latest plot as proof to mouth off about how dangerous all mutants are.  Shortly afterward, Shadow Boxer spots two Purity League Pawns running across a rooftop, then spies on them to notice  one is carrying a different type of scanner than they usually have, and both of their gyrojet rifles have been replaced with laser rifles.  He calls Honey Badger, and the two heroes quickly capture the pair of Pawns.  They discover that the scanner is tech very similar to that of Dr. Draconis (whose early armor Draconic found and is using), and the laser rifles are both designs of Dr. Draconis as well.  They call Circe to help "interrogate" the Pawns.  She uses her Telepathy to view the Pawn's briefing.
 
Purity League Rook:  We're breaking you into pairs to search Boston and surrounding areas.  Dr. Draconis has graciously given us scanners that will key in on Draconic's armor's neural net, as well as loaning us a few dozen laser rifles to use on Draconic -- apparently, his armor isn't as strong against lasers.  If you locate Draconic or any of Deathstroke, call in and report.  If you run into any of the muties in Just Cause all on their lonesome, you're free to engage.
Shadow Boxer:  Wow, Draconis really doesn't like Draconic, does he?
GM:  This is what happens when the GM rolls a critical success for a Hunted's appearance. 
 
Maker uses the captured Draconic scanner as a template to make versions for all members of Just Cause, as well as a bunch for PRIMUS.  Unfortunately, a methodical search of the city finds no trace of Draconic.
 
Malarkey:  There's no reason for any of Deathstroke to be here.  They can be anywhere, and just teleport in right before the deadline.
GM:  Yep.  But in the meantime those Thuggery goons they hired can have fun making prank calls.
 
Finally, the deadline comes.  Requiem emails a video to various reporters, and a number of them immediately air it. 
 
Requiem:  People of Massachusetts – you were warned.  Your felonious elected officials had their chance to peacefully and honorably step aside but refused, so it’s readily apparent that they have no concern at all for your welfare.  I deeply regret that you must now pay the price for their avarice and insistence upon retaining the reins of power.
 
Residents of Boston – let it not be said that Deathstroke is not generous.  We will give you until 8:30 to flee the area, and then we will drop the next Weather Bomb on Boston itself! 
 
Shadow Boxer:  What time is it now?
GM:  8:00.
Shadow Boxer:  A whole half hour.  Yeah, real generous of them.
Malarkey:  (shrugs)  Anybody that was going to leave has probably already done so.
 
PRIMUS tells the heroes that a cloud formation similar to that seen at Dover is forming over an area SE of downtown Boston. 

Nexus:  Why not just form it right over downtown?
Honey Badger:  This way they can roll it across the city.  It builds suspense.   Deathstroke knows that being a supervillain is all about... PRESENTATION! (mimicking Megamind)
 
With the Draconic scanner, the heroes quickly locate Deathstroke.

GM:  The heading and distance indicate they're on Washington, where Summer turns into Winter.
Nexus:  Are those actual streets?  And they intersect?
GM:  Yes, they are, and yes, they do.  As soon as I saw it on the map, I knew I had to use it. 
 
The map is laid out, showing the intersection.  I ask where the heroes are teleporting in, so I know what they can see before I start placing Deathstroke's counters on the map.
 
Shadow Boxer:  (looking at the area on Google Maps)  On top of the Millennium Tower.
Maker:  Where's that?
GM:  About a block away, just off the map.  About where [Honey Badger's player]'s arm is.
Honey Badger:  If I move my arm around, does that mean we have to all make DEX rolls or fall off?
 
From their vantage point, the heroes see 3 members of Deathstroke (Requiem, Chiller, and Draconic) along with a squad of agents.  Chiller is obviously using his powers to create the "Frostnado" (as he likes to call it), and the heroes can see he has a large, bulky backpack with attached gauntlets and control cap.  They call PRIMUS to let them know, and they say they'll route the Jump Jet there with two squads of assault agents plus the Silver Avenger. 
 
The heroes teleport closer, to the top of a low-walled building protuberance along the front of Macy's.  From there, they see Stinger clinging to the side of the building across the street (on the side opposite the Millennium Tower).  Still no sight of Scatterbrain, Shockwave, or Death Commando, but the heroes decide to move on Chiller to stop him from dropping the Weather Bomb on south Boston.  Besides, Stinger's danger sense has alerted the villains to the heroes' presence.  Scatterbrain locks down Shadow Boxer with "scattered thoughts" (a mental entangle), but none of the other villains react as the heroes each take their first shot at Chiller.  This includes Honey Badger leaping onto Chiller's ice slide and punching him, knocking the villain off the slide and down the street.  He's taken a lot of damage but is still (barely) conscious.
 
Malarkey:  I use my Sorry, I Broke It spell on Chiller's backpack.  It's a Dispel.
GM:  You know, when I was asking people online for advice and feedback on how to draw the Weather Bomb powers up, someone said that as GM I don't really need to worry about points.  And I pointed out I'm OCD, and besides, it helps to know who many points something is in case someone tries to Dispel it. 
Pops:  And it's a good thing, too.
GM:  I drew it up as the focus for a Multiform, with the alternate form having basically the same number of points he normally has.  But most of his powers in that form have the limitation OIF, so they can be much more powerful for the same cost.
Malarkey:  (rolls well)  I Dispel 96 Active points.  (smiles)  I rolled 7 sixes.
GM:  Ouch.  Sorry.  It's 122 Active points.
Malarkey:  No way I can roll that high.
GM:   You could probably make a Cumulative version in your VPP.
Malarkey:  Nah, that would take too long.  We'll just remove him of his living daylights. 
 
Once all the heroes have gone in Phase 12, they find out why the villains didn't act yet.  They were waiting for Shockwave (who occupies the dead bottom of the speed sheet).  Stinger wraps Honey Badger in webbing (entangle transparent to damage), and Shockwave then runs out of the front of Macy's.  Requiem, Chiller, Draconic, and Death Commando (who was hiding on another rooftop) all Coordinate attacks on the webbed-up brick.  This not only CON-Stuns Honey Badger, the combined damage nearly puts him unconscious.
 
Meanwhile, the heroes can hear the PRIMUS Jump Jet arriving just down the street.  The Deathstroke agents all head that way to engage PRIMUS.
 
Pops:  They're all like, "Yay!  We'll go fight PRIMUS!  You guys got this!  (lower voice)  We do NOT want to get in the middle of THAT!"
 
The heroes nonetheless stick to their mission and render Chiller unconscious over the next few phases.  They even take a shot while he's down, ensuring he's into GM Discretion-land.  Pops then teleports over to Chiller and grabs him, holding him up like a human shield.   Shockwave runs around behind Pops and tries to blindside him... and rolls 17, a near critical failure.
 
GM:  See?  Even when their Unluck roll isn't successful, they still find a way to suck.  I'm going to say he clips Chiller, breaking the poor guy's leg. 
Pops:  I yell out, "Not my fault!  He did it!"
 
While Pops teleports the captured Chiller to the local PRIMUS base, the other heroes face off against the rest of Deathstroke.  What follows is a knock-down, drag out brawl. A recovered Honey Badger leaps onto Draconic's back, grabbing on and squeezing.
 
Draconic:  Yee-haw!  Let's see which one of us breaks first!  (flies back-first into the ground)
Pops:  Wait, we have Honey Badger with his arms and legs wrapped around Draconic, who is back-thrusting him into the ground.  What are they doing here, shooting a porno?
 
By then end of the Turn, one more villain (Shockwave) is unconscious, two heroes (Shadow Boxer and Maker) are KO'd, and several others (both hero and villain) are barely on their feet.  Since it's getting late (real-world time), I decide to try ending it.
 
Draconic (listening to something over the team radio)  What?!  No way I'm saying that!  What are you, old man, some kind of chickens*** pansy-a** wussy-boy?  (looks up to the rooftop where Death Commando is)  Wussy, wussy wussy!
Requiem:  (to Pops)  You seem a reasonable, honorable sort.  I realize that we are no longer able to carry out our plan, but be aware that Death Commando and Scatterbrain have captured Shadow Boxer.  I propose a deal.  You allow us all to leave, and we will turn your friend over to you unharmed.
Pops:  We don't have Chiller any more.  You'll have to talk to PRIMUS about him.
Requiem:  (gritting teeth)  I am aware that my brother is in their clutches.  Unfortunately, I can't do anything about that at this time, so I must accept it.
Pops:  (under his breath)  Besides, he'll probably just walk out of Stronghold's revolving door in a week or so.  (louder)  Okay, fine.  But we may have to wait for those two (gestures at Draconic and Honey Badger) to get done with whatever they're doing first.
Circe:  (hovering about 30m above the battleground)  What?!  You're going to let them go?!  You're just afraid they're going to beat on you next!
Pops:  Yes.  Yes I am.  Because right now I'm the only down here with them.  And if they team up on me like the did to Honey Badger, I'm toast.

I ran my Champions players through the first half of "Chiller Frost" aka "The Weather Bomb" - a homebrew adventure involving the perennial bad-luck supervillains of Deathstroke. 
 
A few sessions back, one of the PCs (Circe, a mentalist), in her secret ID as Ana, had hired a new bouncer for her bar -- Julio Rodriguez, an ex-con whom the heroes had captured very early in their careers.  Julio was working for Deathstroke at the time, and had been taken down before he could even fire a shot.  He's now trying to live on the straight and narrow.
 
Ana sees him arguing with a shady-looking man, with said man leaving the bar looking irritated, so Ana asks him about it and whether there's a problem she needs to know about.
 
Julio:  Oh, no problems.  Guy was just trying to recruit me for a job, but I told him I already have one I like, and I don't want to lose it.
Circe:  (OOC)  Of course, I go into his noggin to make sure he's telling the truth.
 
He is, and she also learns that Guy belongs to the Thuggery, a sort of criminal temp agency for villains to use.  Guy said he's working for someone Julio had worked for before, and since Julio's short criminal career consisted of temping for ARGENT and Deathstroke, that narrows the field.  Note that I also provide a news sheet at the start of each game, with articles that recap the prior adventure, plus usually one article related to the adventure and either a filler article and/or something foreshadowing a future adventure.
 
Circe:  (OOC)  Since Deathstroke appeared in this week's news, I guess we know who's looking for goons.
 
Julio's mind also revealed Guy's fake identity, but I forgot to make one up, so the players are providing possibilities.
 
Circe:  His name's Guy Griffon, so how about... Dude something...
GM:  (LOL)  No.  Not Dude.  How about Pete?
Circe:  What about Harry Hippogriff?
Shadow Boxer:  Dirk Dragon.
GM:  Hmmm... I think Guy might like that one.
 
Circe once again invades a mind, checking out what Guy knows about Deathstroke's plans.  As a temp, he's not privy to much, but they learn that he helped plan Deathstroke's hit on the US Army's Dugway Proving Grounds, an event which appeared in the news a few weeks back.
 
GM:  In Guy's mind, the Dugway operation was a total success.
Circe:  That's not what I remember from the news article.  I thought Deathstroke got their butts kicked by the Army.
GM:  (reads aloud the article from a few weeks back, which does indeed say that)  However, from Guy you learn that Draconic and Stinger weren't part of the group that was fighting the Army.  They got into some building on the proving grounds -- he doesn't know which building -- and stole something -- he doesn't know exactly what.
 
The heroes contact Col. Hardin, head of the local PRIMUS base, and ask him if he can find out what Deathstroke took from Dugway and possibly share the info with them.  Hardin has a friend stationed there, dealing with chemical weapons.  The next day:
 
Col. Hardin:  My source at Dugway assured me that absolutely no chemical weapons were taken from the base.  However, he said that a few days after the failed attack on Dugway, a lot of the higher-ups were running around looking none too pleased, so something probably was taken, but my pal doesn't know what.  He's guessing it's some DARPA prototype.  He did say that he found out a bunch of soldiers were on base who are all low-powered mutants, so it might be related to that. 
Maker:  Great.  They probably have something that can take away our powers. 
Malarky:  Yours, maybe.  I use magic.
 
The heroes had also learned from Guy that Deathstroke hired him to act like a security guard on Tuesday and keep people away from the local NBC station's transmission antenna while a Thuggery tech-type agent hooks something up.
 
Circe:  Is Deathstroke one of those groups who likes to hack TV transmissions to make their demands known?
GM:  Oh, yeah.  They're all over stuff like that. 
 
Just in case, PRIMUS has one of their own techs sneak in on Sunday and set up a few concealed cameras, both at the NBC transmitter as well as those for other area TV stations, to see what's getting hooked up.  When Tuesday rolls around, the fake security guards and techs show up, and the tech-type heroes try to figure out what is being hooked up.  Maker completely rolls 17 on her PER roll - not quite a critical failure, but close.  Pops and Malarky both make theirs by a good margin
 
GM:  (to Maker)  You're pretty sure it's something that will permanently take away your powers.  (to Pops and Malarky)  Yeah, it's just something to hack the transmission.  Got its own playback module, so there won't be an incoming transmission to trace.
 
The heroes and PRIMUS decide to listen to what Deathstroke has to say, so they allow the transmission hacking to take place.  Just before 8 pm, the team's PR guy (T.J. O'Roarke) calls them. 

O'Roarke: Sorry to bug you, but I just got a call from some guy calling himself DC, says he's got something urgent to tell you.
Malarky:  DC... that's probably Death Commando.  Yeah, go ahead and put it through.
GM:  (OOC)  Who's going to talk to him?  (Malarky, Pops, Honey Badger, and Circe all immediately point at Nexus; her player was out sick that day.)
Malarky:  Nexus is always one to talk to bad boys.  Hasn't she already let him go twice already?
GM:  Yeah, but in fairness to her, he did help her out.  Remember how Draconic was motorboating her, and Death Commando shot him with a laser pistol, because he's vulnerable to lasers?  (pause) There's no love lost between those two.
 
Death Commando tells them to turn on the local news - any station.  They do, and see Requiem appear on screen.  (I admittedly cribbed a lot from the early Deathstroke module.)
 
Requiem:  Greetings, people of the greater Boston metropolitan area!  I am Requiem, leader of the master supervillain team known as Deathstroke!  I am here to announce that the governor and legislature of Massachusetts have 72 hours to dissolve all branches of state government and relinquish control of the state to me and my comrades-in-arms, or we will unleash upon you… the Weather Bomb!
 
As a demonstration of our power, be aware that the town of Dover will shortly… (Chiller interrupts to whisper in Requiem’s ear)… Okay, that’s Dover, Massachusetts, of course we’re not going to threaten Dover, Delaware if we’re taking over the state of Massachusetts… where was I?  Oh, yes, the town of Dover, Massachusetts will be decimated by the first use of our Weather Bomb!  Police, PRIMUS, Just Cause – you have just 15 minutes to get the people there to safety before we demonstrate the incredible, awe-inspiring power at our command!
 
Think on it, people of Massachusetts – would you rather be governed by criminals who pose as honest men, or ruled by criminals who are honest about themselves?
 
The power is ours, the choice is yours.
 
Shadow Boxer:  Well, he's got my vote.
Maker:  Yeah.  He's better that what we've got right now. 
 
(More to follow)

The effects of flashing a badge depend upon the audience. There are those who respect the badge that can be persuaded into compliance, and there are those who fear the badge that can be intimidated into compliance. In either case however, the more you demand compliance, the more likely you are to gain a bad reputation for it. Of course, in some situations the side effects are much more detrimental. If you flash your badge at a VIPER nest, you better succeed with your Presence Attack because your negative reputation might just be granted posthumously.
 
I suggest one of these:
Flash My Badge:  +1/+1d6 Striking Appearance (vs. all characters) (3 Active Points); OIF (FBI Badge; -1/2), Side Effects (Negative Reputation; -1/4) FBI Badge:  (Total: 4 Active Cost, 2 Real Cost) +1/+1d6 Striking Appearance (vs. those who respect FBI Authority) (2 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Side Effects (-1/4) (Real Cost: 1) plus +1/+1d6 Striking Appearance (vs. those who fear FBI authority) (2 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Side Effects (Negative reputation; -1/4) (Real Cost: 1)

I'm thinking if someone is flashing their badge, or flashing people going by, or flashing whatever, you'd get a negative reputation fairly quickly. 
 
Aaaand... now I have an image of someone in a trenchcoat, using a badge where people once used a fig leaf...

This is simple and elegant solution, which means of course that the board will find a way to complicate it.