megaplayboy

So, what, "Fallen One" is worth a few hundred points right?

I think as a GM, that what I dislike is that often players just go for tactical efficiency rather than genre convention: 1. going for the mismatch foe rather than the nemesis(the egoist blasts the brick, the brick drops a car on their gadgeteer, etc.) 2. "halve DCV, double or triple team, repeat on other opponents" 3. everyone seems to "instinctively" do this stuff, even when it's out of character--players have sometimes been criticized for doing something not "combat efficient". 4. everyone delays, to wait for the optimal opportunity to do 1 and 2 above. God forbid the PC team actually starts losing the battle, then it just gets worse, I have a few players who will exploit every loophole and facet of the rules to maximize the destruction they inflict. I think I'll just start penalizing players for "combat monstering out of conception"

Do you set "human limits" on combat skill levels? I can see one merit to the low end approach--a 20 dex batman who triumphs over a dozen thugs is much more impressive;)

Well, as I was saying, there's a fine line. I think judicious perusal of a character sheet is just fine, but I have known some people who took it too far.

Well, there's this group of guys known as Z-fighters, who all happen to be martial artist/brick/speedster/energy-projectors who can fly and have enhanced senses, all in concept. I understand the need to keep games balanced, but sometimes at cons and in other groups I have found that the only thing more annoying than munchkins at times are extreme control freak GMs:rolleyes: there's a fine line between "tough but fair" and "hardass"... Sometimes fixating on game mechanics to either extreme(munchkinism or what I now dub nitpickism) can just kill all the joy in a game.

just thought of more stuff: Plot device powers--things like blowing up planets shouldn't cost points, unless you can do it in combat;) We all now it costs hundreds of active points to do it slowly and thousands to do it quickly, so just treat it as a plot device and move on--if you have to stat it out, do so, but don't worry about the cost. If a player really wants their character to be the best at something, let them. As long as it's not too broad, like "best martial artist in the universe". There should be a LITTLE competition for something like that:)

Well, in Fantasy terms, IIRC, the old writeups in Allston's "Mythic Greece" book ran to about 3800 points or so, and the ones in "Mythic egypt" were at about 1000, due to use of a 200 point VPP! Infinite Man(?) from the old Alien Enemies is a good example of a "godlike" being in Champions. Keep in mind gods will have perks(followers, bases, etc) out the yin yang, have several skills at superhuman levels(e.g., a proper greater god of war will have a 30+ tactics roll), and have a lot of attack powers which affect multiple targets. Greater gods can typically turn a group of mortals into swine, for example, and that ain't cheap;) But you could probably divide those numbers by 2 or 3 for a superhero game to get fair stats for deities in Champions. But Odin or Zeus should probably be a little tougher than Dr. D, IMHO.

30 dex, 7 speed= 90 points 10 maneuvers, +4 DC, 4 weapon elements=60 points find weakness, martial arts, 12- = 25 points 6 levels hand to hand=30 points 30 points in martial arts related skills plus at least 100-150 more points in stats, 50 points in noncombat skills, maybe danger sense or perception levels, at least 20 points for body armor or awareness-based damage reduction. 20 points for movement. That'll get you over 500 points, and that's only for a 12d6, speed 7 martial artist.

hmm...I have a huge collection of Chinese comics and DragonBallZ tapes which may suggest otherwise...granted, if you are talking "realistic, limits of human capability" style martial artists, you probably hit a wall at a lower point...but I could still come up with a ton of abilities appropriate to a 600 point martial artist. And Batman is basically a martial artist with a ton of other skills, who generally costs out well above 600 points;)

If you want to do that, have every 14d6=50. divide the number of dice by 14, multiply the integer of that number by 50 and add the roll of "remainder"d6 to it. Probably pretty close to the range you get by rolling 50d6 for example. You can also(for variety), have half-crits(make a half roll) yield 4 pips/die, and full crits(roll a 3) equal max damage.

Damage reduction should be factored into defenses as follows: for half reduction, subtract 20 points from the max pd/ed as applicable. for 75%, subtract 40 points. for 25%, subtract 10. Characters should be balanced not so much in terms of conventional hero system mechanics, as in personality, power concept, niche, etc. The digital hero article on "Point-less Champions" had a good point about Spotlight and Schtick management. I'd like to see at least one example hero written up at the 700+ level. Humor is a big factor in high powered games--with so much at stake most of the time, a little levity works wonders. Keep the villains fairly unique, and have a lot of runs that are of epic length and scope, but with very different plots. I look forward to buying two or three copies of this book for my group--I only wish the "standard" setting was one step higher;)

The stats chart on page 58 of the Champions genre book is labeled "Champions Universe Characteristics Standards" and is cited as an example, not a hard guideline. If you read the accompanying text written on the stat ranges on pages 57 and 58, you will find that your concerns appear to be addressed.

I'd like to see a fantasy genre "war wagon", ala Gustavus Adolphus;)

To a bounty hunter, all villains are redeemable:D

I still kinda like the one taken by Nighthawk of the Squadron Supreme: President of the United States:D

my suggestion on the maps is to create PDFs on site that contain the maps in page by page form(i.e., A1 through A4, A through C, print out and connect as directed to make a full map). Less than perfect, but better than a tiny map in a book that would take an hour to redraw on a battlemat.

I know this is a crazy thought, but I would've bought the produce, even paid as much as 30-40 bucks for it... IF THEY HAD INCLUDED ACTUAL PULL OUT MAPS AND COUNTERS IN IT! Sheesh. You're expecting a GM to draw that mall map onto a vinyl battlemat?!? I know costy was probably the reason for doing it that way, but when the product was first described to me, I thought it would have pull out maps in it.

yeah, if you want your players to curse your unholy name;)

hmmm...let's see: There was the Viper Revenge Squad, which was a volatile collection of the most dangerous foes the team had ever faced before. Don't think they'll ever let me deploy that team again:D the one villain I've always wanted to spring on a high powered team is High Lord Ghi Zha Tan(Gigaton), whose name loosely translates to "He who eats Cheerios out of your skull":D giant energy absorbing density and gravity controlling cosmic super brick....

If you buy missile deflection, usable at range, with the reflection adder, do you have to pay the points for the advantage on the whole power, or just the part you can use at range(since, as has been explained before, you can't reflect at range)?

well, the first time an agency encounters the heroes, they may be unprepared. Let the PCs whoop a$$ and smile. The second time, the agents will try more numbers and slightly bigger guns. The PCs will take slightly longer to walk through them. The third time, the mercenary villains help out, or the agency base is assaulted. A fairly tough fight, perhaps. The next time the agency shows up, they do it smart. Undercover agents investigate the PCs, maybe a comely female agent befriends a particularly gullible and talkative PC. Over weeks or months, the strengths and weaknesses of the PCs are discovered. Special weapons and tactics are developed to counter the strengths and exploit the weaknesses. Then the psy ops begin. Scurrilous stories of scandal are fed to tabloids and local news. The new girlfriend persuades the talkative PC that he should really be leader. A bomb goes off in the team's press office. One of the heroes is set up to look like a reckless pugilist or triggerhappy vigilante. Angry editorials appear in the newspaper and the mayor isn't returning their calls. Finally, the set up. A token force of regular agents appears in a public park or mall. When the heroes show up, the trap is sprung. An overwhelming force, or an elite group of agents specially equipped as "hero-stoppers" either frightens the PCs into retreat or outright captures them. Next you have the agency leader gloating as the heroes are led into their customized individual deathtraps(at least one has a barely perceptible flaw the hero can use to escape and free his comrades). The team escapes and is about the stomp the agency leader when they have one more obstacle to beat: The Ultimate Super Agent. One other thought--give the specialized agents a lightning reflex bonus, and combat levels, only vs. the hero they have trained against. Imagine the energy projector's surprise when the agents actually go before him on phase 12!

well, 1400 MPH is about as fast as the average bullet, but a baseball is a lot larger than a bullet. I think that 12d6 normal works pretty well--this will flat out kill norms, seriously injure agents, and flatten low level supers. 4d6 Ka, if the ball is solid and inelastic. PS: at 1% of light speed the ball will do about 36d6:D

If one has misslle reflection, ranged, usable as attack, can one then use it to reflect attacks directed at others (at range)?

an evil demigod or lesser deity(generic), with "options" covering various spheres of influence. packages for dragons to represent different types and personalities of dragons. a race of extremely evil fair skinned folk, just for a change of pace. a unique legendary creature to pose a challenge to a large group of high fantasy PCs.

I was thinking today about 4 color campaigns and players taking a bunch of psych lims to represent their heroic code of ethics. Why not just have one generic psych lim, varying by campaign? 4 Color Heroic Code: won't kill respects the law protects the innocent always keeps their word patriotic Very common, strong or total: 20-25 points Given that this is basically a convention of the classic 4-color genre, I think even this is pretty generous. It's not really as much of a disad if it's expected behavior.