Ken Solo

Re: Limits to Superhuman Intelligence? Waitasecond. Is it very common for people to use a Perk to represent PhDs? It does not sound like a bad idea, even if it should only be 1 pt. But I've never seen it done before, and it never occured to me to require it. I have always just assumed that a SS skill over a certain level gets you a PhD.

In the Champions Universe book, in the chapter about government and laws pertaining to supers, there is a line detailing that Congress (or the Courts) has declared that entities not of human stock are not 'people' under United States law. Including intelligent aliens, undead, artificial intilligence, and others. Then it says that However, certain basic rights have been extended to any sentient being in the U.S. Does anyone get a feeling of what these 'certain basic rights' might be? I can see all sorts of problems for vampire hunters here. Also if a supernatural entity (like a Spirit of Nature/Guardian of The Sacred Grove/ Lord of the Rings type Ent) is killed, does the legal system care? Would the certain basic rights be like the rights being extended to illegal aliens (of the human kind) like drivers licenses and health care? I'm not sure where to go with this and would like some suggestions. Thanks.

Re: Athlete HERO I'll see what I can find there. Then I'll check back here. I know the brilliant minds that haunt these boards will come up with something. My next project after all is Golf HERO. Tell me we have all those super doctors out there, and none of them play golf?!?

For a long time now i have been wanting to run games using elements of sports. Other than martial arts manuvers, I have never been sure how to pull this off. The ultimate logical extension of what I'd like to do is be able to run a baseball game or football game using HERO rules. I liked the idea of two super-hero teams from different ciites getting together for an annual softball game. (It was even an illo in one of the Champions supliments, Quantum flying up to catch a baseball sent out of the park by Defender....I don't recall which book) But... How does one work the mechanics??? Pitching and batting looks like a Skill vs. Skill contest but it also looks kind of like the batter is using a held action to Block a pitch. Is catching a fly ball a roll to hit a DCV? One usually has to move to where the ball will be, so is this Manuver a Move-Catch? There is a rule in the 5th (I'm not sure about Revised, b/c I have not read it all yet) about catching things (like people falling off buildings) and that should prove helpful in some cases. Assuming a baseball going toward the outfield is just suffering Knockback, what mechanic determines which direction it goes? The Super Power Wrestling League or Ultimate Fighting Champion type things are easy in HERO. Team sports are hard (for me) Has anyone put thought into this yet? I plan on working on this in a few weeks when final exams are over.

Re: Sex and the Single Superhuman Sorry, I didn't mean to kill the thread...

Re: Two that make one As far as established examples go. Firestorm was the body of the teen, and the professor disappeared to create the superhero, right? Captain Planet was brought into being when all five(?) kids got together and touched a gem. But then the kids could all run around while C.P did his thing, I think. If anyone recalls the obscure Marvel character 3-D Man, the guy sat down in a chair, focused on his special glasses and the hero came into being in front of his now unconscious body. Force should be kind of like that.

Re: Two that make one WEll, now that I've rad your posts, it seems not unreasonable that the hero could die, and another one could be summoned latter. This could easily be gotten around by saying that Girl A and Girl B have so much mental energy invested in The Force that the death of force would also cause the death (or at least catatonic incapacitation) of the two girls. I had in mind the girls had to concentrate throughout the entire time Force is in existance. So there are not good for much except sitting and staring into space. I don't have the sheet anymore, but I wrote the character in 2nd ed Champions many moons ago. I think I used the convention of a hero with two Incompetent DNPCs. I also never really put much thought into how hse would play in a campaign. As a player, you would just sit and wait until the two NPCs with their own lives to live ecide to set everything aside to create the hero. However Force makes for a nice NPC hero concept, especially as a plot hook.

Re: What is YOUR favorite Champions character? Kirby, sorry about the length. I just copy and pasted the story. The favorite thing falls into 3 categories: Prof. Genesis is the favorite character I'm allowed to play White Dwarf is the charcter I made in '81/'82 and is my favorite for nostalgia. Published characters though: I really like the jello-eyed evil bug alien apprentence to the Supreme Sorcerer, Jarth. Introduced in Mystic Masters he quicly became a favorite villan. He is shooting for the Big Prize (Office of Supreme Sorcer of the whole dimension) but he is petty and would kick dogs just because! Jarth needs to make a comeback!

This is a "How do you do this?" character question. The concept is there are two normal women who are not related but linked somehow. (magic? whatever) When one gets in trouble or simply wants to, she can concentrate on this idealized superhero figure. The second woman (Betty) gets a little mental poke that alerts her that woman A (Abby) wants to create the superhero. So Betty sits downs and concentrates on the superhero figure too. When both women are focused on the image of the hero figure, it comes ito being. I called the hero Force (as it/she is a manifestation of the will of these two people) Originally I just wrote a flying brick. The question is how to represent this whole concept? Should the two women each have Summon linked to mindlink, Full Concentration? Or perhaps build the hero and take the two women as DNPCs? or something that I'm not thinking of? I challenge your creativity!

Re: Sex and the Single Superhuman Sex in a roleplaying game. Good topic. As a player, I always try to develop as much of my character as posible. However, i don't play on that end of the table much. I GM. As has been mentioned, romance and sex (related but very different things, mind you) are topics that will get different reactions from different groups. I always introduce the posibility of romance (or random sex, if it seems appropiate) but always in a manner that the PCs can ignore it if they are uncomfortable with the idea. In a D&D game, the heroes were saving villages all over the country, and since all the PCs were unatached heroic men, I had a few village women let it be known they were interested in the PCs. For this group of players, nothin' doin'! The women were ignored while the heroes went off to find another demon to kill. In a current D&D game, the Sorcerer has charmed his way into bed with the main good NPC chick, and their continuing cold relationship (she is very altruistic, and he is very self serving) is an interesting makes for an interesting tension in the plot. There was also the female centaur being continously pestered by the male centaur (she despised him, he desired her) to make fun role playing. In Champions, people have all sorts of wierd mind sets, as well as physical issues, to explore that will never come up in real life. Diehard is a worshiper of life itself. Remedy is a mutant with the power to enhance the life force of others. Diehard loves Remedy intensely, as some people proclaim to love Jesus. In the game I play in now, the GMs wife play the Super Beautiful Mentalist. A few time it has been mentioned how the male human members of the team should be reacting to her. But I play an 89 year old guy 32 years into his second marriage. He don't care none.... Only once have I used sexual inuendo for shock value. I once created a family of criminals based on putting 100 active points into each stat. One guy had a 110 STR, the next had a 60 CON and so on. Thinking about how their powers would affect their psyche logicly, I concluded the guy with ED would be a pyro, never having learned to fear fire. And the guy with the 210 COM would have had a lifetime of everyone falling all over themselves doing what ever they can to please him in every way. When his intrest turned to sex around puberty, he was allowed to do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted. He quickly grew jaded, and demanded more outlandish and devient sex. So, when Antonio (the Strong one) and Victor (the Pretty one) were in the getaway car after a crime, and the insect-theme superhero flew in the window, alighted on the dash and demanded surrender, he was a little taken aback by Victor getting wide eyed as he exclaimed aloud "A six inch tall man! Imagine the possibilities!" All but one person at the table understood that that comment was from the warped mind of a supervillan. The last person thought I was intentionally gay bashing and expressed his disapointment. So, I guess the moral is: know your audience/players before trying to run plots that hinge on romance or sex.

Re: Why that costume In the begining, when Champions and I were young, the characters mostly got colorful costumes because the character sheet had that spiffy Mark Williams outline and we had a box of markers. Ocassionally, I colored in the outline to make a costume, THEN made a character fit. As I continued to add to my characters story, many of them lost the costume all together. They were not trying to draw attention to themselves. Others have costume because it is appropiate still. Either the costume is a Foci, or it conveys a message.

Re: Things that work in comics but don't work in Champions Not from me! I don't even know who The Authority are. Until I read the name on the HERO boards yesterday, I never heard the name. I assume it's a comic book. Characters without resistant DEF can be fine if they are smart. Whenever I start a new campaign, I hand out a little 5 page description of the world, character creation guidelines etc. In it, I always emphasis the guns KILL! Then as GM, I try to give fair warning that the bad guys have guns. Cover does wonders when used. However, when the wolf-boy hero observed a set of assult rifle wielding guards from cover, and he chose to charge straight at them from a distance, he caught a case of the deads. No PCs ever die from stray fire. I am playing a PC for the first time in many years now. An 89 year old super-scientist. When fighting starts, Prof. Genesis leaves. I know my charcters purpose is to get the team through the clues, and turn off the doomsday weapon, not be anywhere near killing attacks (or any attack really)

Re: What would your character LIKE TO do? Todd Berrymore (once known as the hero White Dwarf) would like to perform ONE heroic deed in public and succeed unquestionably. Just one unqualified victory would make him happy.

Re: Storn Art from Idea to Full Picture Year 2 There has been a lot of discussion lately in other threads about supers in the real world. That is what do supers do with their powers when not punching bad guys? It also happens to be a topic I like to explore a lot. Hows this for an idea? The illustration is of a man trudging toward the viewer. He wears blue jeans, cowboy boots, a plaid flannel shirt and a cowboy hat. He looks like a typical trucker you will find in any truckstop in America. He has both hands on a heavy chain which goes over his shoulder to the tractor-trailor rig he is pulling behind him. He is not straining much really, just walking. Smoke/steam rises from the engine compartment of the semi. If this illustration is to be a whole scene, the man can be pulling the rig into a truck stop off the interstate and patron gape out the window slack jawed. Just one I always wanted to see. A super having to deal with everyday issues, like overheating on the highway.

Re: Props and your PCs If I were to ever achive my dream job of being a professional Champions GM, I would have many spiffy props. But, as it is I have time and budget problems. In the past I have gone so far as to put together a cardboard tower for multi-level super battling. I also used an old plastic Testors model of the space shuttle which was the right scale. Mostly I try just to get minatures that look like the PCs, and something close to represent NPCs. Newspapers,are nice when I have time. Pictures I have swiped are pretty easy to print off and show. Or at least a scanned picture of the major NPCs, to show off. My games are usually run away from my home so I can't be carrying a lot of stuff.

Re: What is YOUR favorite Champions character? This is my attempt to tie a character fully into the Champions Universe, without creating any new organization/NPC. What do you think? I've only played the Prof. for a few weeks, but I see SO much potental! Already one fight had the Master Villian sending his troops at us and two PCs were keeping score of who KOed more thugs. When the battle was over The Gargoyle said "I got 13!", Shape said "I got 14!", then the 89 year old Prof. Genesis said "I got 24. While you boys were dancing with the thugs, I hacked the computer and sent a 'shut down' command to the two dozen killer 'bot headed our way. You're welcome" Prof. Genesis History: Harold Alphonse Genesario was born in 1916 in central California to a vintner. His father's wine business was able to send young brilliant Harold to college at the age of 16. He went all the way across the country to attend Princeton University in New Jersey, and after studying under Prof. Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Studies, earned his PhD in mathematics in 1937. Immediately after receiving his diploma, Harold married Isabel Brown, whom he had met at school. All was bliss until, beginning May 3rd, 1938 Harold suffered a continuous series of extremely debilitating headaches. He put off going to the doctor for just headaches, and by August they went away, and Harold had never felt so robust or been able to think so clearly in all his life. He found he could retain perfectly almost every scrap of information he read, heard, smelled, or felt. He began to get ideas of how to apply one device to another to make a third more efficient device. That winter his son Henry was born, Harold was happy for it but distracted by his newfound abilities. He threw himself into research, the more he learned the more he could apply that knowledge. He studied chemistry and patented a new gas, freon, to replace the poisonous ones being used in refrigerators. He studied electronics, and patented an improved calculating machine based on the design of Konrad Zuse. In 1939 he patented the G1, the first fully automated electro mechanical computer using a series of yes/no relays he called Binary programming language. 1941 and America was pulled into the War. Prof. Genesis (a nickname given to him by his patent attorney) was contacted by the U.S. Army to bring his computing machines and join the “Haynesville Projectâ€. Harold jumped at the chance to study Captain Patriot, and others like him under Maj. Groves. He moved his family to Kansas, and worked with the Project through out the war and after until it was officially closed in 1948. In 1950 Harold moved his family to New York City and joined the team on the Ultivac Project, enjoying staying at the cutting edge of computer technology. But the Project was closed when the Ultivac gained a sentience of it’s own and attempted to take over the world by accessing the launch codes for both the U.S. and U.S.S.R nuclear missiles in 1961. To further cause Harold grief, he discovered his now adult son Henry had gone to college, and but had been stealing Harold’s equipment and moonlighting as a masked mystery man for three years. He decided to keep his son’s secret and repaired and supplied the Grey Man in his gang busting and spy smashing activities. After all, the Grey Man was proving fairly adept at rooting out Soviet or Viper spies. In his own attempt to further the cause of American Security, Prof. Genesis joined the Pentagon’s Project Perseus under Dr. Herman Olafson, who had worked with Genesario at Haynesville. They created the All-American, a “superhuman soldier†to be a symbol of American patriotism. Harold stayed with the project until 1965, when he decided to retire from working for the government and, at age 49 accept a professorship at University of California, Berkley. Once settled there with Isabel, he suggests a TV show put out by the university, exploring in a scholarly yet entertaining way the scientific curiosities of the world. After much haranguing, the university board agreed to try it, as it will give their fledgling video department something to do. It was first aired on Public Television in fall season of 1965, and was slowly received at first. But, by the end of the first full season, the university was inundated with letters of praise and requests of what to explore next. Using the name Professor Genesis, he hosted “The World of Genesis†for the next 25 years. He was particularly fond of the play on a Biblical reference. When he was not gallivanting around the world for his TV show, Harold was researching and giving seminars at the university. He was widely known among the academic world not for his TV show, but for his progress in computer technology, and the applications he put computers to in so many other fields he had mastered. His applications were advanced enough to be the target of occasional espionage attempts. In the winter of 1967, one such plot to steal Genesario’s research brought the Grey Man to Berkley following a group of mercenary spies. In a last minute altercation inside Genesario’s house both the Grey Man (his son Henry, age 29) and Isabel, age 49 are murdered. The murderer got away, and to this day no one knows who he was, or who he was working for. For five years, Harold grieves then goes about his life. He tapes “The World of Genesis†around the world, visiting Japan’s Monster Island for the first of several times, along with all the wonders of the ancient and modern world. In 1972, Genesario spends a sabbatical in Switzerland at L’Institute Thoth studying super powers manifesting in patients and volunteers there. While there, Harold meets the 30 year old English woman Laura Jones. Their professional relationship blossoms into a romantic one and in ’75, they wed, and the new Mrs. Genesario moved her effects from Weymouth, England to Berkley. 1975 was also the first appearance of Dr. Destroyer. His destruction of San Francisco enraged Harold that a man of such obvious genius and technical skill could think of nothing better to do with his gifts than tear up cities. With the goal in mind of putting a stop to such menaces as Dr. Destroyer, Harold accepted a posting on the Design Board put together by Dr. Charles Wildman to create a super prison called Stronghold. He was thrilled to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony in 1978, and even did a segment of “World of Genesis†on the new facility, and how state of the art it is. But his proudest moment was two years earlier, when his daughter Hannah was born. In 1988, Prof. Genesis himself was kidnapped. The criminal Sunburst was convinced that Genesario had something to do with the secret Project Sunburst. Despite the Professors actual ignorance of that operation, Sunburst was determined to extract the names of the men responsible out of him. In the meantime he let the police know he had Genesario, and demanded the Army officer and/or politicians responsible for Project Sunburst be brought to him. Only by the timely intervention of American Eagle and the Freedom Squad was Prof. Genesis saved from being tortured to death as a hostage. In1990, with ratings for Public Television falling rapidly, the University decided it could no longer afford to produce “The World of Genesisâ€, so the show was canceled, but still runs in syndication in many markets as a staple of Public Television. (A decade later, the arrogant Aric Roston Rhodes has picked up where Prof. Genesis left off, only seeking more self-gain and aggrandizement. Rhodes’ cable TV show “Explorers of the Unknown†follows pretty much the same format as Genesarios old show, but with “Attitudeâ€, less content and pandering to the short attention span crowd.) Prof. Genesario settles into staying at home with his wife and daughter, (with sophisticated security devices installed and guards on staff) and researching and teaching at the University for two and a half years, paying attention to the news of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. A few months after the destruction of Detroit in 1992 by Dr. Destroyer, Prof. Genesis agrees to work on a new government project, right in the Silicon Valley region. The FBI wanted a suit of armor to keep their hostage negotiators safe when dealing with super powered suspects and keep the hostage relatively safe. Certainly something Prof. Genesis could relate to. While working for the Department of Justice on the team that was designing the Stalwart battle armor, young James Harmond of New York called him. It seems Harmond had began “building a suit of powered armor equipped with the best systems his genius could design and his father’s money could pay for.†It seemed Mr. Harmond had a strong background in Electronics, Mechanics, and physics but did not have the required skills in metallurgy, energy weapon system design, or cybernetics to complete his power suit. So, after a long conversation that satisfied Genesario of the young mans intentions, he took Harmonds money and helped with the creation of the Defender battlesuit. Now almost a dozen years latter, Harmond/Defender still calls on Prof. Genesis for technical assistance from time to time and when he can Genesario will help the founder of the Champions. After completing the Stalwart armor project in 1995, Harold moved on to Project Onslaught where the public outcry over the destruction of Detroit had prompted Congress to increase funding to the Department of Defenses Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He worked for three years on the genetic treatments that created Janissary. The DoD suspended further work until it could decide if the project was worth continuing in light of Janissary’s problems and tremendous expense. In 2000 after watching Hannah collect her Masters Degree, he announced his retirement from the University of California after being on staff (sometimes full time, sometimes part time) for 35 years. Harold enjoys retired life with his wife for six months, before placing a call to friends in the government and asking for something to do. He is offered a position at the R&D division of the Department of Superhuman and Paranormal Affairs (DoSPA). He could even work from central California. Harold happily applied him self to the study of super humans and their powers until September 18th, 2004 when Prof. Genesis was kidnapped for the 2nd time. This time he was taken by Maelstrom and Ace of the Protectors super hero team and taken to South America along with several other scientists and forced to build a doomsday earthquake device. Because of the mystic effect of the pendant of Quatlique, the scientists were brainwashed into thinking it was that best thing to do. Then the Liberty Force from Millennium City showed up to save the world. Literally! Now, Harold has decided to offer his services to Liberty Force as a scientist and technician. He has wanted to spend some time in the City of the Future. After all, some of the technology making Millennium City so unique is his design! His friend Defender lives there now, Dr. Destroyer has made his presence known again, in July Prof. Kendrick announced a new metal alloy he is calling Kendrium. (Prof. Genesis is anxious to work with the new alloy, perhaps with the ultimate result of improving the capabilities of such systems as the Defender, Stalwart, and Iron Guard power suits) and besides Harold just feels he will be most useful there. Two moving trucks later (Laura developed a taste for collecting antiques), Mr. and Mrs. Genesario buy a new high tech house in Millennium City. Now all that remains is to introduce himself to Liberty Force. Harold Genesario has very little income from patents coming to him any more, as most of his many inventions have been superceded by more advanced technology. He does get income from his University pension, a government stipend for his Defense Department work, and book & TV royalties. He is often asked to be on some news or talk show as a ‘scientific expert’, and will occasionally agree to do it if he likes the show. Much of his money is directed into scholarship funds he set up long ago for assisting young people to attend college. This leaves his with enough capitol to be comfortable but not extravagant in his lifestyle. Of course, over the decades he has collected a museums fill of artifacts and books from all fields of study from all over the world. Because of his TV show, as well as the odd guest appearance on a news program, Prof. Genesis is a well known as a celebrity around the world. His show has been translated into several languages, because of his easy method of making a technical issue understandable. Everyone knows he is an old man with white hair only over his ears, and wears glasses, and that if he talks about science, he knows what he is talking about. He is much less well know to the general public for his government work as so much of it was Classified or even Top Secret. In his many years in science, he has influenced many other scientists, and has used the works of many more in his own projects. He meets many of his colleagues at seminars, award banquets, and while touring labs, and Harold remembers them all. His willingness to trade information makes him fairly popular among the World Scientific Community. Prof. Genesis knows people in L’Institute Thoth, UNTIL, PRIMUS, university, corporate and government labs all over the world. He can usually find someone to call on for assistance or advice on a problem that is outside his fields of expertise. Conversely, he frequently gets calls from them. At all hours. His foremost contact however, is currently the Chief Science Advisor for the United States, Robert Ford. When the Man In Black says “Don’t worry, we have Top Men looking into it.â€, there is no one higher than Ford. Harold has known Ford since he was a young army lieutenant at the Perseus Project. They got along well, and have stayed in contact ever since, it was Genesario pulling in favors that launched Ford’s political career. Because of his long time association with Secret government projects, Harold has earned a permanent Secret security clearance. This can be modified up temporarily if some General feels it necessary, and of course it only applies to scientific or technical documents and materials. He will never see the Secret strategic plans for invasion of Canada. Similarly, because of the sensitive information he carries in his head, Genesario is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, conventional, energy or otherwise for self-defense. He also has a passport with a lot of stamps in it. Prof. Genesis is getting old, and his physical limitations show this. Any blow he takes will affect him half again as much as it would a young man, and he bruises easily; every blow will show up as an ugly purple mark, and be stiff and painful for several days after ward. (No hiding from the wife the fact he’s been in a fight) Prof. Genesis has always lived by a sense of honor; compelling him to do his level best to help as many as he can with his gifts. He is secure that he has done that so far in his life more often than not. Because of this he gets really irritated at those who cheat and use their intellect to inflict harm, as Dr. Destroyer does. (He used to get pretty steamed at students he caught cheating on exams as well!) He feels it is a duty to be a counter to men like Dr. Destroyer and Teleios, and Mechanon all of whom feel their technology make them superior to the rest of humanity. He is positive that there is no situation that cannot be overcome by a suitable application of thought. He and his colleagues WILL find a counter to whatever these madmen with technology unleash. Hannah has recently earned her PhD, and has set out to prove some theories she developed during schooling. Hannah assists her father from time to time, but primarily is trying to make a name for her self as an archeologist. Hannah is something of an adventurer, and has a knack for getting into dangerous situations where there shouldn’t be one. But then, it’s a strange world. Some disadvantages/plot hooks not listed on the character sheet: Prof. Genesis has a limited capacity for invention. He can recall almost any information he has experienced, and has proven particularly good at combining two existing technologies (a modem + a copy machine + a telephone = a fax machine) and reverse engineering some advanced technology. However, he has never made a truly great leap forward into previously unimagined territory. He can build a vast array of super technology, but only because he has had the opportunity to research captured tech from Dr. Destroyer, Mechanon, Viper, the Sirians, and so forth. If someone comes up with a plan for something new, he can probably iron the bugs out to make it work as desired, but despite his name Genesis does not create anything radically new. 62-year-old Mrs. Laura Genesario was a researcher into superpowers her self. Also, she will want to start getting involved in the social circles of Millennium City. Hannah is 28 and an archeologist in the world, trying to make a name for herself. As Sunburst found out, the Professor was involved in some Secret Government Research, which means he could be valuable as an information source, or as a hostage, or as a blackmailed spy.

Re: All the superhero PCs I've ever played Thanks for starting this thread! It sent me dancing down memory lane for a few minutes! The key here to make the list shorter is ‘played’ (under a GM), as opposed to all the characters I’ve written up (hundreds), or characters I’ve used as NPCs only. Champions/HERO ·White Dwarf * (c.1981 or ’82. I misunderstood the rules some, so he got a 110 STR and a 90 pt FF/EB/Flight multipower. Because I didn’t put points anywhere else he has one of the worst win/loss records in superherodom. I love this character!!) ·Moonfire* (rip off of Firestar from Spiderman TV show) ·Gargantua* (lots of growth, and stats boosts linked to the growth) ·Archer* (Hawkeye rip off. I always wanted a better name but could not come up with one, until just before the character died. He was called Shaft for 5 minutes) ·Dark Warrior * (suit with Darkforceâ„¢ control. When that was taken away (OIF ya know) became Punisher type, now a James Bond type) ·Remedy *(UNTIL agent with REC usable vs. others. Also a force field based suit) ·Steel/Diehard * (a mart with 4pts armor and 60 BODY. Again I searched for years to find a better name, and Damage Sponge Girl seemed silly, if appropriate.) ·Mole* (Tunneling based powered armor suit) ·Pummel (minor brick, got killed by shotgun) ·Champion (Capt. America type w/ No Range EB in gauntlets) ·White Fly * (shrinker w. mechanical wings and blaster.[flight was almost mandatory for shrinkers when the rules cut ground movement in half for each level of shrinking]) ·Fox/Shadowfox * (Invisibility and all the enhanced senses 1st edition offered) ·Headsman (alien executioner. Killed by firearms) ·Volt (Electricity wielder [including green & yellow costume] died somehow) ·Cannibalizer (gadgets. Concept was to take all the foci of vanquished foes) ·Coyote* (mart/detective with eye beams) ·Crusader* (mart/detective with a .357 and levels in it) ·String Man!* (Mild mannered clothesline caught in battle between three super teams! The Cosmic Energy, and Psionic Projections, magical spells of Mind Trapping, and Electro-bolts (among other things) all combined to give sentience and animation to this ball of twine! Now a master of Hemp-Fu, and wielding the Green Argonite Stone Projector (G.A.S.P. gun ;4d6 phys EB, 1 rec. charge, OAF) dropped by Dr. Destroyer, Stringfellow Hemp seeks to tie up the loose stings of society! Etc, etc…) I never got to play this character enough. ·Incubus*(Dream and sleep powers) ·Sgt. Greene (The gray Hulk with “Ar-my training, Sir!â€) ·Prof. Genesis* My current character in a weekly game(89 year old govt. scientist. 50 INT, lots of SS skills and contacts in govt. and academics. He WAS the “Top Menâ€) Paladium System ·Dr. America (ultra athlete/patriot/redneck. Not right in the head) Marvel Super Hero Game ·Hunter/Allen Pressnight * (minor brick mutant, powers of pheromones (people either loved him or hated him) and Immunity to Biologically Generated Energy Emissions—also a hit or miss power; Prof. X was an old man in a chair, Cyclops was a guy in stupid glasses and the Invisible Woman was just a woman, but Colossus and Wolverine hurt!) ·Maudlin (ability to create illusions and drunkenness in others. A fun combination) Superworld ·Dr.?/Capt.?/Mr? Midnight (I don’t recall his name proper. A minor brick with enough PRE (in HERO terms) to intimidate gods) Villains & Vigilantes ·Paladin (a D&D character transported, except the GM Pat Rogers made each bit of armor a throwing weapon, and Paladins magic ring could become any vehicle) DC Heroes ·Bullet (Turned out like Colossus of X-Men) The characters I've marked with an * are ones that were well developed with extensive history, personality, rational for powers & all that stuff.

Naturaly I went to the books first to find my answer. I looked in both 4th and 5th ed rules. However, I was looking under the Damage and Defense section of combat. I didn't think to look under Move through. Move throught may very well be the origin of this idea. But now that we are on it, I kind of like the mart vs. brick topic. If a mart can't hurt someone with high def., that's why they take those NND nerve strikes, and Martial Throws, to incapacitate a brick.

Remember, in the game Macho Women with Guns, "Topheavy" is a Disadvantage, and "Fighting in Heels" is a skill.

I appreciate the enthusiasm so far! My email is Rowric@hotmail.com for sending stuff. I tried to make a campaign paper about 10 years ago, but it did not go well. I droped in stuff from the actual news, whatever happened at the last session, some hooks for future adventures if the players care to follow any up (they never did) and some red herrings. Unfortunaly, this was before I joined the information age and had access to cut and past so it was very tedious. And no one ever bit on my hooks. And my red herrings were too obvious. I'm sure merging stuff you guys contribute will work wonders!! And of course I'll give by like credit. Now that I think of it, there has to be a little box naming all the contributing writers, right? Thanks for your support!

The resistant DEF part seems resonable. I only recall using some variation of this a few times. Once, when one of my players insisted on trying to pound his way through a vault-like door on the rational that eventally he would roll all sixes and break it. Most recently, I was playing (!!) a brick and was having trouble with another players martial artist, so I anounced that I was going to Brace to resist Knockback, and turn my force field on full, and let the Mart hit me, invoking this "rule". (He passed out, marts are notorious for not being able to take what they can dish out) The GM knew exactly what I was talking about, but the other player had never heard of such a thing. (He did concede that it was a dramiticly appropiate solution). Since then I've been trying to determine where I got the idea in the first place.

I like the idea of the news paper acounts mentioned on another thread so much that I'm going to start one here soliciting just such accounts for my own game. I play with about two dozen NPC hero groups around the world, and a newspaper sumarizingtheir exploits would be wonderful for adding to the campaign world. (and giving me more springboards for plot ideas) So what I ask of you all is this: would you please post a newspaper view of an event that happened in your campaign recently? I plan on collecting any and all that do not directly conflict with my campaign world and publishing a SUPER-TIMES news magazine that only covers news of the supercomunity and/or the wierd. Naturally, this magazine would also keep track of romances, divorces, product endorcements, charity apperances, etc. As well as wild speculation about world super criminals and/or strange event. All written by 'top men', of course. This way your creativity will be imortalized forever in my gameworld, too!

1) When I start a campaign, I publish a pamphlet alerting the players to the nature of the world they will be playing in, as well as a list of all the optional combat rules I am and am not using in the game. I tend to weigh the combination of optionals so that Killing Attacks are indeed dangerous. For one thing, I like thugs with a .38 to be a *little* respected, and for another, I intensly dislike "gunfighter at high noon" combat. I like to see people seeking cover, and moving a fight to a battleground that offers them an advantage. With this right out in the open, I have no problem with killig a PC that does something stupid. fer instance, the character the peeped through a window from hiding saw a squad of agants with AK-47s ready and aimed at the door. He charged through anyway. He got dead. On the otherhand, it I manage to KO the whole hero team, I will look for any excuse to keep them alive. Usualy by way of the villan putting them into an 'inescapable' prison, or deathtrap. 2) I like the idea of the news paper acounts mentioned earlier so much that I'm going to start a new thread in the Champions Discussion soliciting just such accounts for my own game. I play with about two dozen NPC hero groups around the world, and a newspaper sumarizingtheir exploits would be wonderful for adding to the campaign world. (and giving me more springboards for plot ideas)

Is there, or has there ever been a rule in the HERO System about causing yourself damage when you Strike something and do not excede that somethings DEF at all? The example is a normal punching a brick wall as hard as he can; he does not do enough BODY to harm the brick wall at all, and in the process, he shatters his hand. (ouch!) This has come up in my game a few times, and most of the older players (people who learned the game elsewhere and only started playing in my game in college) recall the rule, but when a newer guy asked me to show it, I can't find it in 5th ed. OR 4th ed. rules. Is this just a common house rule? By the way: My use of it is: If the attacker fails to do any damage (including stun if the target has a STUN stat) or knockback, he suffers 1/2 of his damage roll applied to his own defenses.

White Dwarf would have some issues as his powers begin to act unpridictably when in the presence of extraterestial objects. Since the robots are undoubtably of extraterrestial manufacture, WD would be pretty much reduced to sniping at them from extreme range with his energy blast. Which will probably destroy one, but it will be slow going. And of course, all they have to do is walk in his direction in mass to force his retreat. Another chapter of looserness for WD. Sorry Earth.