CarlSagan

Dear Leader I LOVE IT ALL! I want to do this guy, I really do! He could be great! Sort of scary and funny at the same time! Thank you all for your wonderful ideas!

Re: High School Graduate Skills? Sad to say, but all High School really does is train you for an entry level clerical job. Most people come out with reasonable skills in Reading, Writing and Basic Math. Nowadays you also learn to type and how to boot up a computer. If you are on a college track, you will learn a LITTLE bit more advanced mathematics and geometry. In science you gain, at best, a FAMILIARITY, the faintest wiff of exposure to the scientific method, a few currently accepted principles in science and maybe some scientific history, but not enough to be useful for anything. Oh yes, speaking of history, you will get a little exposure to American History and an even smaller exposure to World History. Quite honestly, though, the basic citizenship exam given to new immigrants has more than your typical high school American history class. They really don't teach you very much at all. It is actually a shame that we force people to endure it for four years. You could really do it in two years very easily. For your character, I would say that any skills he has are going to come from his extracurricular activities. Perhaps he likes to fool around with computers. (Remember that hacker from Michigan? He was in high school. He also had SEVEN department-level computer servers in his home. They didn't teach him that in high school!) Other possible activities: chess club, drama, debate, choir. I am sure you can think of appropriate Knowledge Skills to go along with these. Perhaps your character is some type of prodigy - in music or math (or computers). Perhaps he can draw like Picasso (or at least John Byrnes!) But again, these are extracurricular activities. Sad, isn't it? If you look through the descriptions of skills in Hero 5E, all useful skills by the way, I challenge you to find one which is taught in High School.

Billions & Billions Bwaaa Haaa Haaah! No! Billions and Billions....

Why, sure! It near happened in 2000! All it takes is money. Maybe he could be an Alien Robot - an android - sent to infiltrate our government.

BE NICE! Now, now, be nice. We need a kinder, gentler thread ... with a thousand points of light....

Kim Jong-Il as Mentalist OK, that could work, too. Kim Jong-Il as a mentalist. In fact, it works really, really well. All of his followers are under the sway of his mind and are fanatically devoted. Unfortunately, the mutation/genetic engineering/chemical-radiation accident which altered his brain and gave him the ability to control the minds of others has also driven him stark, raving MAD! Can you imagine the heroes squaring off against the Dear Leader in the climatic battle, when the team brick suddenly says, "You know, guys, I think we have this guy all wrong!" and then proceeds to switch sides!

No, certainly not. Al Gore is far too restrained for such displays. Why strut about like a moron in colored underwear spouting threats to take over the world, when you can simply take over the world? Much more efficient that way. How about a REALLY bizarre plot twist! When it is discovered that the whole Alien Invasion thing is a hoax to allow VIPER to take over the country, the VP is impeached and VIPER is hunted to the point of extinction. BUT THEN your superheroes start finding clues that lead them to a startling realization. The whole thing was rigged by Aliens who really ARE getting ready to invade! They used the whole "bogus" invasion story to eliminate a potential rival and make SURE that no one would take an Invasion story seriously. We could even work in Al Gore. He gets elected President in the next election, and then it turns out he was an Alien after all! Twisted? Yes, yes, very, very twisted.

Re: Re: Long Live Capitalism! You know, you could really work that into a plot line. Say that Fox is selling this stuff on late night cable, and it REALLY takes off. QVC and the Home Shopping Network each pick up a segment. Foxbat is now ROLLING in money. (He could pay off his ex-wife AND afford that new base!) All this equipment starts showing up on the street. Kids start showing up to SCHOOL in powered armor! Of course, the media just goes ballistic. Several lawsuits are filed to cancel his shows, but the ACLU jumps in to protect Foxbat's rights to Free Speech. If everyone your heroes run into on the streets is basically Agent-Level (at least for a while) it could get very interesting. Bystanders might just decide to get involved in Super-Hero/Super-Villian fights on the street! Of course, Foxbat, being your basic LOSER, would blow it all. With his newfound wealth, he would probably come up with some half-baked scheme to take over the world just so your local superhero team could put him in jail. Again.

Do you do windows?

Kim Jong-Il the Supreme Serpent? How about Kim Jong-Il as the Supreme Serpent?!? (I always thought that the Top Snake was a little strange himself...) Also, something like a quarter of the entire country of North Korea is in the military! The Dear Leader should have SWARMS of agents (at all levels of power). Does anyone know if the Dear Leader has a big, fluffy white cat?

Kim Jong-Il and Foxbat Good idea, RedMenace. Foxbat could go to work for Kim Jong-Il as a mercenary. Clowns of a feather flutter together, I guess. Alternatively, Kim Jong-Il could have BEEN Foxbat at one time. They are both kind of daffy. The sleeper agent idea is excellent. You could work that into an extended story line. The superhero team could discover one of these agents and follow the trail back to North Korea. It could either be a serious adventure, ala Suicide Squad, or a comedic jaunt, ala SuperFriends. Also, the idea that Kim Jong-Il has the power of Superman is very scary. You could save it to the very end. The superhero team THINKS they've got this clown captured, and he unleashes a 20d6 kick to the groin! Again it could be serious as above, or comedic with a bunch of powers that don't work very well.

I got this idea from another thread. North Korean Dictator, Kim Jong-Il as a SuperVillian. This guy is crazy enough in real life to be a Champions Villian without changing anything at all! He runs around his palace in drag. He once kidnapped a Japanese film maker and forced this poor, unfortunate soul to film a documentary about the "Great Kim Jong-Il". When he was younger, before he became dictator, his favorite pastime was visiting various amusement parks around the world in disguise. (He is supposed to have loved Disneyland.) So, my question for all of you is: what Super Powers would you give this clown, or is it enough that he is a ruthless and insane dictator who owns his own country? Also, I am looking for suggestions for plot lines (serious or otherwise).

Kim Jong-Il What a Clown! Yeah, he'd be great as a supervillian. He could go around in drag, commanding legions of agents. He's got an ego bigger than Galactus. He'd probably be best as comedy relief, but the scary thing is that you would just be playing him true to life!

Long Live Capitalism! You know, I agree with Bengal. What's wrong with a former Supervillian trying to earn an honest (or at least semi-honest) living? Maybe it's just off the shelf items, like some obsolete, military surplus battle armor and things like that - stuff any run of the mill agent could get. After all, let's not persecute poor Foxbat into an eternal life of crime. Although, I have to admit, that given his background, an occupation like 'Used Car Salesman' or possibly 'Insurance Agent' seems more appropriate. In fact, if I were to make a recommendation to Mr. Foxbat, I would recommend Law School. After all, he's certainly been through the court system enough to know how it works! You guys just don't want to see Foxbat leave a life of crime because you don't want to lose your Comedy Relief NPC.

Top Secret We were playing TOP SECRET (espionage role playing). In this particular scenario we were trying to catch a foreign super-spy. We see this guy take off in his souped-up Porsche 911 that could, without straining the engine, break the sound barrier. So, we all pile into our vehicle to chase him. Our vehicle was an armored limousine (max speed 120 mph). Somehow, my character ended up driving. So, we're chasing this guy at our maximum speed and he is like just a dot on the horizon, when, suddenly the GM says, "OK you come up on a tight curve. There's no time to stop. What do you do?" I say, totally calm, "I'll take the turn, max speed." Some of the other players started screaming, "Seat Belts!" The rest were just screaming. The GM asks, "OK, by the way, do you have Combat Driving Skill?" Me: "Uhhh ... No" GM: "OK, let's see, 120 mph, your probability of making the turn is ... ummm ... 1%" Other Players: "AAIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!" Believe it or not, I actually made the roll. The GM's eyes are as big as saucers. The other players are fainting with relief. I turn, still totally calm, and say, "Relax, Guys. It's a company car." That became our stock response whenever someone suggested doing something ridiculously dangerous and highly unlikely. (The bad guy, by the way, had completely vanished by the time we rounded the curve. So, the awesome roll was wasted except for the fact that no one died.)

The Matrix Hey! I like the Matrix reference! They were anti-technology, too, weren't they? And they were also Liberators. How about something like that hot chick from the first Movie. (I can't remember her name.) I also like the last one that Blue came up with.

Alien VP Dick Cheney I could see as the Supreme Serpent. He DOES do most of his work out of the public eye. Al Gore, on the other hand, would have to be an Alien. That would explain why he is so unemotional. Anyone remember this joke? How do you pick Al Gore out from a group of Secret Service Agents? Easy. He's the wooden-looking one! Ba-Dum-Dum!

Buffyverse SIgh... Mark Rand did say that there were no Watchers in his universe. Also, if the police, the courts, the Department of Defense, *insist* on something, it will be hard to not comply. If a court *insists* that you pay a traffic ticket, you pay it or you don't drive. Some supers think that this doesn't apply to them, but then I just play out the consequences for them. How would you like to have to fight a horde of agents (with radios, helicopters, other supers on call, etc., etc.) just because you made an illegal left turn? It can put a real spike in your day. The Slayers could be vigilantes when they were underground and unknown. If you postulate that they are now widely known to law enforcement agencies, the vigilante approach will no longer be tenable. Most Slayers will understand this. They will also understand the benefits of cooperation. A few will not, and they will have 50 point Hunteds.

Bwaaa Haaa Haaahhhhh...... PLEASE.... STOP..... CAN'T.... BREATHE!!!!

Hmmm. Me Smell A Fight! Get ready to do some SERIOUS Agent-Smacking! Oh, yes. I'll probably have to buy off that silly Secret ID thing, too. (Too bad. I really enjoyed working at the grocery store.) Alternatively, I could run out with the blood-soaked corpse of the alien in my arms and claim credit for killing him. Then I could maneuver my way into being in charge of a Super-Battalion. (If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!) As a third option, I could vaporize the alien corpse, confess to the assassination (which, since I am not an alien, wrecks the whole alien-invasion theory). I then put in a call to Alan Dershowitz and start working on my insanity defense.

Hmmm. You know, it is pretty tough to come up with something both Corporate and Mythical Greek in tone. Here are a few ideas, though: TITANS, Inc. Enforcers, Inc. (Basic, but I think it works.) Bounty Hunters, Incorporated (Also basic, but I like it, myself.) MINERVA Acronym: Meta-Human Interdiction & Neutralization Emergency Response Vector America Anyway, that's my two cents.

Mind Control in the 5th Edition Check out page 131 of the 5th Edition Hero System rules. I will reproduce the table here: MIND CONTROL EFFECTS: If The Total Rolled on Mind Control Dice - Mental DEF is: Greater than EGO The target will perform actions he is inclined to perform anyway. He will believe any statement which does not contradict prior knowledge. EGO + 10 Target will perform actions he wouldn't mind doing. He will believe any statement which does not contradict reality under direct observation. EGO + 20 Target will perform actions he is normally against doing. He will believe any statement which does not contradict strongly held personal beliefs or principles. EGO + 30 Target will perform actions he is violently opposed to doing. He will believe statements which contradict strongly held beliefs or which contradict reality under direct observation. The following modifiers apply at any level: -10 Order matches the targets Psych Lims -5 Order is worded in a very convincing manner +5 Order is poorly worded or contradictory +10 Order contradicts targets Psych Lims +10 Target will not remember actions +20 Target will remember actions, BUT WILL THINK THEY WERE HIS IDEA! So, if you could hit Professor X (29 EGO, 25 Mental Def) with 99 points of effect, he would do anything, believe anything he was told, no matter how ridiculous and no matter how antithetical to his way of life (29+25=54 + 30=84 + 5 + 10=99). At 99 points, he would remember his actions and realize that he was subject to mind control. At 109 points, he wouldn't remember anything (which would, in itself, be a big clue). At 119 points of effect, he would remember what he did, but would think he did it of his own free will. I bet if this went on long enough, the strain would drive him insane!

Schizophrenia Thank you. I'd love to play this out in some campaign!

Wolverine I must say that I've never read much of the X-men, but I really enjoyed the movies, so I'm starting to get into them. I particularly liked the character of Wolverine as portrayed by Hugh Jackman. He has a kind of "Never Say Die, Never Give In, Never Stop Fighting" kind of personality that I think would be a lot of fun to role-play. Sort of like a street-level Winston Churchill: grittier and without all the high-flying rhetoric. The movie Wolverine was Hell On Wheels against Agents but pretty nominal against other supers. He could, however, take yards, wads and gobs of damage and keep on fighting. I would not say that his HKA was 4d6 or 6d6. (I gave him 2d6.) That is 4d6 if you add STR. After all, he didn't kill Mystique with it. He just knocked her out. Moreover, it was pretty useless against Sabretooth. All he could do was let Sabretooth beat the crap out of him (and keep coming back for more - gotta admire that!) until he could figure out a way to free Cyclops (who blasted Sabretooth into the harbor). Even there, it wasn't the EB that took out the brick. It was knockback and a 400 foot drop! In my write-up for Wolverine, I gave him some resistant PD and ED defined as rapid-healing (with the Costs END limitation). He also has regeneration, a pretty good REC, good CON, lots of STUN and not much else. (Oh yes, I also gave him a high EGO, for a non-mentalist anyway. He obviously had a very high tolerance for pain and suffering.) He strikes me as the kind of guy who would really piss off the bad guy in a fight. "Is that all you've got?!? Come on, you p____, hit me!" Anyway, that was my take on the character. I am interested in anyone else's interpretation.

A Truly EVIL plot idea I realize that I am replying a little late to this post, but I had an idea that I thought was too good to not share. It is based on a short story by Stephen King. In the story, a young college student who wants to be a writer plagiarizes a story from a fellow student in his writing class. The other student is a great writer, but is very poor, so he ends up dropping out of school, is drafted into the Army and dies in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the protagonist presents the story to his writing class as his own. It is a very good story. He wins a prize, and the story is published. Jump ahead 20 years. Our protagonist is now a very successful author. He has written several books and countless short stories. His publisher has decided to put together an anthology of his writing as a celebration of his career. There is just one little problem. The publisher INSISTS on including THE STORY, the one our protagonist plagiarized. Our protagonist does everything to try to keep the story from being reprinted, but the publisher insists. After all, it was his very first successful piece of writing and, in some ways, his best. Our protagonist has never owned up to plagiarizing the story. (There were rumours floating about at the time of the original publication, however.) He just goes absolutely BESERK whenever this story is mentioned. He is EXTREMELY sensitive about it. In fact, he is in such an extreme state of denial that he has actually convinced himself that he didn't actually plagiarize the story at all. However, the story is reprinted. That's when ALL SORTS of wierd things begin to happen to this guy. First, his house burns down. He KNOWS that HE didn't do it, but he doesn't have a good alibi, so the insurance company puts their top investigator on the case. Next, our protagonist's pet cat is butchered, and the bloody corpse is left on his doorstep with a note attached. The note demands that he confess his plagiarism of 20 years ago, OR ELSE. Now our protagonist is really frantic. He tries to find out who is blackmailing him, who is stalking him, but things just keep getting worse and worse the more he struggles. His friends turn up dead, etc., etc. Meanwhile the investigator is closing in on the arson case, and our protagonist is getting really, really desperate. Here's the punch line. Our protagonist has been stalking HIMSELF. On the one hand he has had this extreme need to deny his guilt. On the other hand, his conscience is driving him to repent and confess. In the strain between the two, his mind has actually split asunder. He has created another persona. His other persona is cruel, ruthless and determined to see to it that he, the protagonist, is PUNISHED for his crime! When our protagonist slept, his other persona emerged and went to work: burning, killing and destroying. At the climax of the story, our protagonist is confronted with THE TRUTH, and at that moment, the other persona takes over COMPLETELY. At the very end of the story, our protagonist attempts to kill the insurance investigator, who shoots him and kills him. SBC (Suicide by Cop) It's a GREAT story! I'll bet you can see where I'm going with this, too! If your player absolutely REFUSES to come clean with the authorities, then his own conscience begins to hunt him down. He starts getting blackmail notes demanding that he confess. The authorities could get an anonymous letter claiming to know the guilty party. Perhaps the local TV station gets one, too. Perhaps the investigation was put into the cold case files, but after the note was received it was reopened. You (the GM) could start dropping clues at this point. Perhaps someone realizes that all of the notes are in the player's handwriting. (The player, of course, insists that he is being framed. He will, naturally, pass any lie detector test - hands down.) If the player still won't confess, however, then bad things start happening at night. A new super vigilante, or even a new "Super Serial Killer" is loose. Random drug dealers start turning up dead. Even better, perhaps random prostitutes are butchered in as bloody and gruesome a manner as possible. The press goes beserk with "Jack the Ripper" stories. The mayor and the city council start screaming for blood. The police start putting some real manpower into the case. Perhaps your superhero team is asked to assist. As the murders proceed, more and more intriguing clues are found leading to the identity of the killer. Meanwhile, the player keeps getting blackmail notes. At one particularly grisly murder scene, the word "CONFESS!" is written out in blood in letters three feet high right above the butchered corpse of a teenage prostitute. This picture runs on every TV station at every news break for the next week. It is on the front page of every newspaper. It hits the national wire services. It actually hits the international news. (It would be page one in London. "An American Ripper!") The case is featured (repeatedly) on "America's Most Wanted". John Walsh arrives in town to personally assist in the case. The FBI is called in on the case. They send in their number one profiler. (Perhaps he is a mentalist of some sort!) The local chief of police vows to find the killer or resign. (Perhaps it is an election year. In that case, the opposition candidate for mayor could use the case as a cudgel to beat over the heads of the current administration.) The head of your superhero team pledges his 100% cooperation. This case is now PRIORITY ONE for every crimefighting agency, public or private, in the area. Psychics start phoning in tips, and (since this is Champions) the psychics might actually know something. Meanwhile, your player is starting to exhibit some bizarre symptoms. He is, of course, the killer. Each night, or at some other opportune time, he undergoes a MENTAL TRANSFORM. He might be tired all the time. (This might actually translate into some OCV/DCV/Skill Roll penalty.) He might develop a nervous tic, or a quick temper. His ever more desperate denials of guilt have driven him insane. He now has a split personality. The public personality becomes ever more self-righteous and defensive, while the "Other" becomes an implacable and ruthless avenger: absolutely determined to see that JUSTICE is done. At one point, perhaps, some crackpot could confess to the crime. The "Other", the true avenger, however, would be certain to kill again to demonstrate that the real killer was still on the loose! If your player is determined to play it out, then the Avenger will see to it that he is punished. Perhaps the killer could start striking closer to home. (If the player has a DNPC girlfriend, she could become a target.) Either your player will be killed, or perhaps captured. Perhaps he could be committed to a psychiatric ward for supers (the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, perhaps?). One way or another, unless your player decides to come clean at some point, you will be rid of that character (and perhaps the player as well). (The character might then make a great NPC Villain.) You can be sure, however, that if you do your job right, the other players in your campaign will be talking about it for YEARS (maybe DECADES) to come! It would be a great session (maybe two or three)! It could combine elements of Dark Champions, horror and psychological thriller. You could even string it out for a long time - gradually dropping little bits and pieces of it into other sessions - foreshadowing the torment to come. Eventually, of course, it will become the central focus of the entire team. When will the others begin to suspect the truth? What will they do? If it becomes public, what will happen to the team? If it does NOT become public, the mystery could fester in the public consciousness for decades, just as the "Jack the Ripper" murders have. Books would be written. Movies would be made. Sub-plots could spin off of this for years! Someone's mother or wife or daughter could be killed, working it into a super hero (or super villain) origin story. Perhaps the super hero team could be investigated afterwards. What did they know, and when did they know it? Perhaps every other character will pick up a new disadvantage: "Watched by Local Police" or even "Watched by FBI". If one of the other heroes witnessed the original crime that set all of this off, but didn't come forward to the authorities, then perhaps he will pick up a new Hunted by some victim's relative. (The hunter could be a super, or perhaps the family could hire a bounty hunter to exact revenge. Perhaps the hunter could even be the mafia!) Think of the possibilities! If I were your player, I think it would be worth it to have my character snuffed (or committed) just to play out the story! "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" Buwaahaa Haa Ha Ha Haaaah!!!!