Mavnn

That's one of the uses for his 'Faster than the eye can see' Multipower slot, which does have position shift. It does limit his options slightly on a turn where he uses it, but I quite like that. Michael

The only real reason for his 'Italian-ness' is the character Rose from Street Fighter Alpha 2 and 3, a gypsy who is trying to track down Bison and seal away his Psycho Power for ever (dun dun dah!!). Errmm... and then she tries and fails, dieing in the process (depending on the end story you get). This seemed the closest thing to background that Bison had so far, so I went with it. She's italian in the game, and wields a couple of funky ablities both in game and via her story bits (precognition, reflecting chi attacks, duplicating herself - and a scarf she powers up with psychic energy). Glad you like the write up, and now that I've worked out how (I was being slow yesterday), I'll be adding the Hero Designer file to this thread on the HD Forum. Out of interest, it sounds like you've considered using him in a Supers game. Have you ever got round to it, and how did it go? Michael

Campaign use: Bison's main game hook for the campaign is his Psycho Machinery. While his mind control is limited in some ways (even a little Mental Defense will stop it's effect), it can build up to a frightening level on those with no defenses. This allows Bison to function in subtle and frightening ways to the PCs - Captain Glory always did fight VIPER, but this time he took the cell down at cost to an innocent... Requiem's DNPC girlfriend leaves town for a couple of nights, and when she comes back she's just a very tiny bit different... why has my cleaner started radioing my movements to someone unknown when she thinks I'm not listening? His fascination with fighting potential is also a useful plot hook for his use in games. Powerful fighting PCs with little Mental Defense will be prime targets, especially if you as the GM can convince a player to play 'the other side' for a session or two as Bison corrupts them to ruin the team's reputation - or just to keep them occupied. Against NPCs he can take a longer term approach - suddenly the team's alleys start turning up as mob enforcers. Bison is both mobile (with his plane), and enjoys hunting personally, so these's things can crop up anywhere Shadow Law is active. Of course, once the characters have foiled him once, Bison will start taking an even more active role in destroying them. His other main plot point is the fact that he enjoys proving his superiority in fights. He frequently holds tournaments where people compete for the right to fight him, and if challenged to a fight he will always agree to it. This doesn't mean that he will break off everything and square off here and now, but he will definately arrange to come back and have the duel at a later date. Note, though, that Bison is at the fight to prove he is superior above all else. He is not an honourable man, and will happily cheat, blackmail and intimidate his way to victory in the duels he arranges. Of course, if someone is genuinely weaker then him (not unlikely in general), he will just take great pleasure in squasing them personally.

Background: [Note: While this borrows heavily from the Street Fighter games, it includes several non-canon elements.] M. Bison was born to a long line of Gypsy mystics in the 1960s, and his grand mother quickly determined that he was one of the most powerful members of the family to have ever been born. This wasn't his only unusual trait - as he grew older, he also grew in stature, growing to six foot tall by his 14th birthday and wielding the strength of an ox. His family trained him in his mystic heritage, including the family martial art of Ler Drit (used for control of his abilties as much as it's fighting potential), and taught him that his powers should always be used to help the needy, and support the healthy balence of mystic might in the world. Unfortunately, Bison didn't agree. He saw his birth right as a natural sign of his superiority to the rest of the world. The teasing he received for his abnormal size and looks, along with the racism he experienced as a romany, made him all the more determined to make his mark. Soon he began to experiment with his powers, well outside the careful bounds he was being taught by his mentors. Warned by her own psychic premonitions that something was wrong, Bison's aunt Rose confronted him, and after a long argument decided the only safe course was to seal off Bison's powers. Unfortunately, Bison had planned for this day. As Rose began the ritual, the wards Bison had placed turned it against her, and he quickly chanelled for power into himself, leaving her a lifeless husk. Filled with power, he left his family and their teaching behind forever. Already physically powerful, Bison knew that his Aunt's mental powers must now be available to him, if he could but find a way to use them. After years of travel and research, he developed the 'Psycho Drive Machinery', which enables him to slowly build up a control of a man's mind, as well as delving into the person's inner most thoughts. Now he was set. Using his great power of persuasion where it was suffient, and his mental and physical abilities where nessicarry, Bison quickly built his base of power in Thailand, also acquiring the services of Sagat, a Muay Thai fighter looking for the perfect fight who had been banned from the circuit when he started displaying superhuman abilties. Since then he has moved from strength to strength, building his organisation (Shadow Law) around a core group of powerful minions. He has infiltrated the mafia, taken over a small nation state in the Indian Ocean to assure himself diplomatic immunity, and recruited a cadre of highly paid and cutting edge scientists - although only the ones without morals. Along the way, he has also managed to annoy several people, Menton and VIPER among them. But as far as he's concerned, it's only a matter of time before he overcomes them all and takes his rightful place as ruler of the world. He is always on the lookout for powerful people he can manipulate and control (ie. the PCs), and regularly organises or takes note of fighting tournaments and other events, looking for suitable candidates.

Inspired by the RDU use of the Tekkan background, as well as the Fighting Game world thread in other genres, I thought I'd create stats for M. Bison (of Streetfighter fame) to use as a (relatively minor) master villian in my own Champions game. I'll put the stats first, then follow up with how I plan to use him during the game, and where I see Shadow Law fitting into the Champions Universe (my version thereof). Comments, please - the game I'm planning is run on standard CU guidelines (the Champions are available as possible PCs, and other characters have/are being built to fit in with them power level wise). Bison is designed to be a stiff to losing fight for a team of starting characters, but someone who will be forced to use his background abilities as the party increases in power and XP. As a quick aside for the purists among you, I haven't tried to convert Bison's every move from the games - this write up is mainly based on the Street Fighter II Animated Movie, with the Psycho Crusher thrown in for good measure . M. Bison Player: Val Char Cost 40 STR 30 29 DEX 57 30 CON 40 25 BODY 30 23 INT 13 23 EGO 26 40 PRE 30 10 COM 0 30 PD 22 30 ED 24 7 SPD 31 14 REC 0 60 END 0 100 STUN 40 6" RUN 0 2" SWIM 0 8" LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 343 Cost Power 20 Filled with Psycho Power: +20 Mental Defense (25 points total) 33 Body Filled with Psycho Power: Damage Resistance (20 PD / 20 ED / 25 Mental Def.) 10 Control of the Psycho Power: Power Defense (10 points) 8 Telekinetic Bracing: Knockback Resistance -4" 30 Telekinetic Movement: Flight 15" 4 Mental Powers: Multipower, 27-point reserve, all slots: (27 Active Points); OAF Psycho Drive Machinery Immobile Fragile (-2 1/4), Extra Time (1 Minute; -1 1/2), Character May Take No Other Actions (-1/4), Target Must be Restrained within Psycho Drive (-1) 1u 1) Twisted Puppet Creation: Mind Control 2d6, Telepathic (+1/4), Cumulative (x16 max.) (+1 1/2) (27 Active Points) 1u 2) Discover the Secret Desires: Telepathy 2d6, Cumulative (x16 max.) (+1 1/2) (25 Active Points); Receive Only (-1/2) 80 Psycho Powers: Multipower, 80-point reserve 7u 1) Telekinetic Deflection: Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack; Missile Reflection, Reflect At Any Target), Ranged (Adjacent Hex; +1/2) (75 Active Points) 6u 2) Faster than the Eye Can See: Teleportation 30" (No Relative Velocity, Position Shift, x2 Increased Mass) (80 Active Points); Must Pass Through Intervening Space (-1/4) 5u 3) Psycho Shot: Energy Blast 10d6 (vs. ED), Explosion (Normal (Radius) -1 DC/1"; +1/2) (75 Active Points); Extra Time (Full Phase; -1/2) 3u 4) Psycho Crusher: Hand-To-Hand Attack +8d6, Area Of Effect (Covers Area Moved Through) (15" Line; +1) (80 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (3x END; -1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), Must Make Full Move with Flight (-1/4) Powers Cost: 208 Cost Martial Arts Maneuver Ler Drit 4 1) Double Palm Strike: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +35 STR to Shove 3 2) Grab: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, +30 STR for holding on 4 3) Crush: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, STR +8d6 Crush, Must Follow Grab 4 4) Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 4 5) Punch/Kick: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +0 DCV, STR +6d6 Strike 5 6) Foot Slide: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, STR +4d6 +v/5; Target Falls; FMove 4 7) Root: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +35 STR to resist Shove; Block, Abort 4 8) Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort 16 9) +4 HTH Damage Class(es) Martial Arts Cost: 48 Cost Skill 10 +1 Overall 24 +3 with All Combat 9 +3 with Ler Drit 3 Acting 17- 3 Analyze: Style 14- 9 Breakfall 18- 3 Bribery 17- 3 Bureaucratics 17- 3 Conversation 17- 3 Criminology 14- 3 High Society 17- 3 Interrogation 17- 3 Inventor 14- 3 Oratory 17- 3 Persuasion 17- 3 PS: Commander (PRE-based) 17- 3 PS: Dictator (PRE-based) 17- 3 SS: Psionics (INT-based) 14- 3 Streetwise 17- 3 Tactics 14- 3 Linguist 3 1) Language: Thai: Idiomatic, native accent (4 Active Points) 3 2) Language: English: Idiomatic, native accent (4 Active Points) 3 3) Language: Japanese: Idiomatic, native accent (4 Active Points) 3 4) Language: German: Idiomatic, native accent (4 Active Points) 3 5) Language: Romany: Idiomatic, native accent (4 Active Points) 0 6) Language: Italian: Idiomatic, native accent (Native) 3 Scholar 2 1) KS: Ler Drit (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 2) KS: The Underworld (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 3) KS: The Super World (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 4) KS: Martial Arts World (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 5) KS: Law Enforcement Agencies (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 6) KS: Psycho Power (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 7) KS: Psionics (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 3 Traveler 2 1) AK: America (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 2) AK: Japan (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 3) AK: Thailand (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 4) AK: Las Vegas (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 5) AK: Washington (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- 2 6) AK: London (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14- Skills Cost: 150 Cost Perk 3 Anonymity 80 Follower (x5000, 75 Base, 75 Disad) 15 Money (Filthy Rich) 90 Bases (x4, 400 Base, 50 Disad) 50 Vehicles (250 Base, 50 Disad) 10 Fringe Benefit (Head of State) 11 Contact: Senator Kelly (14-) (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has: useful Skills or resources, Contact is slavishly loyal to character) 7 Contact: Mafia Don (12-) (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has: useful Skills or resources, Good relationship with Contact) 1 Contact: Mechassassin (8-) 6 Contact: Thai Government (8-) (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has been blackmailed by the character, Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has: useful Skills or resources), Organization Contact (+2) (6 Active Points) Perks Cost: 273 Cost Talent 16 Combat Sense 15- 27 Danger Sense (14-) (Function as a Sense, Sensitivity: Any Danger) Talents Cost: 43 Total Character Cost: 1065 Pts. Disadvantage 15 Distinctive Features: Huge Man with a Huge Chin, Not Concealable, Noticed and Recognizable, Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses 20 Enraged: When Insulted or Disobeyed, Common, go 11-, recover 11- 10 Hunted: UNTIL, Less Powerful, 8- (Occasionally), Harshly Punish, Extensive Non-Combat Influence 15 Hunted: VIPER, As Powerful, 8- (Occasionally), Harshly Punish, Extensive Non-Combat Influence 20 Psychological Limitation: Must be in Command, Very Common, Strong 25 Psychological Limitation: Powerlust, Very Common, Total 5 Psychological Limitation: In Love with Cammy, Uncommon, Moderate 10 Psychological Limitation: Overconfidence, Common, Moderate 15 Psychological Limitation: Will Always Accept Challenge to Fight, Common, Strong 15 Hunted: Menton, As Powerful, 8- (Occasionally), Harshly Punish, Extensive Non-Combat Influence 10 Reputation: Psychotic Would-be World Conquerer, Frequently (11-), Extreme, Known Only To A Small Group Disadvantage Points: 160 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 705 Total Experience Available: 715 Experience Unspent: 10

Thanks Storn!

I thought about this a bit when doing my write up of Lei Wulong (a maverick cop from Tekkan). I considered giving him a Social Lim must obey orders, but in the end gave him a 'Watched by UNTIL' instead - the reason? He's not forced to follow orders, and frequently doesn't, but he does have to make sure UNTIL doesn't know - or else they will begin to act against him (take away his license, start disciplinary procedures, be forced to overturn convictions of criminals he captures). On the other hand, they're not going to jump him in a back alley and try and beat him to death (hunted). Thats my take, anyway. Michael

Rivalry is a good call, I hadn't really considered that. As for the social lim, I went with the Watched instead - I can't help feeling that taking both would be double dipping. I like the idea of a partner, but now that you've suggested it. I can't help feeling that it should be someone 'famous' rather than a random policeman. Maybe Michelle Yeoh from Supercop III, or somebody like that. Or maybe someone less combat capable - Inspector Clueso doesn't quite fit, but maybe someone like that. Further comments and ideas welcome. BTW, I liked your SF world thread. I have a set of stats for M. Bison (Lord Vega) lying around somewhere if you want to have a look and comment... you'll have to wait till I get home in about six hours, though. If I remember rightly he comes out round about 1200 pts and counts as one of the master villians of my Champions game. Michael

Hey, give those of us who have to work a chance! We can't spend all day commenting, you know . Image looks great - and very nasty. Sort of reminds me of the boomers from Bubblegum Crisis - with extra added spikey bits! Looking forward to seeing the Champions stats, and many thanks for the free illos. Michael

Well, inspired by Storn's mention of the Tekkan characters in the RDU he plays in, I thought I would rip off the idea shamelessly and include Lei Wulong as an NPC in my Champions background - a sort of Jackie Chan/James Bond hybred. Once I got started on him, I realised that he was coming out pretty close to 350 points - so I thought I'd make that exact and have him as a potential Player Character. What I'm looking for is comments on the character, and suggestions for the last 40pts of disads. I decided to put him here instead of the Champions forum, because despite where I'm planning to use him, he seems more of a Dark Champions/Ninja Hero character. Fire away! Michael Lei Wulong Val Char Cost 15 STR 5 23 DEX 39 20 CON 20 12 BODY 4 13 INT 3 17 EGO 14 20 PRE 10 14 COM 2 14 PD 5 14 ED 4 6 SPD 27 7 REC 0 40 END 0 30 STUN 0 6" RUN 0 2" SWIM 0 3"/13" LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 133 Cost Power 8 Deadly Furniture: Multipower, 15-point reserve, all slots: (15 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Can only use Slots Appropriate for Item Wielded (-1/4) 1u 1) Unexpected Leverage: Hand-To-Hand Attack +3d6 (15 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2) 1u 2) Surprising Reach: Stretching 3" (15 Active Points); No Noncombat Stretching (-1/4), No Velocity Damage (-1/4) 1u 3) Skillful Use of Pointy Bits I: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6 (plus STR) (vs. PD) (15 Active Points) 1u 4) Skillful Use of Pointy Bits II: Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6 (vs. PD) (15 Active Points); Range Based On Strength (-1/4) 1u 5) Vault to Freedom: Leaping +10" (3" / 13" forward, 1 1/2" / 6 1/2" upward) (Accurate) (15 Active Points) (added to Secondary Value) 1u 6) Way of the Intercepting Chair: Armor (5 PD / 5 ED) (15 Active Points); Restrainable (-1/2), Nonpersistent (-1/4) (not added to totals) Powers Cost: 14 Cost Martial Arts Maneuver Kung Fu (Multiple Styles) 4 1) Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort 4 2) Disarm: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, Disarm; +20 STR to Disarm roll 4 3) Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 4 4) Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +25 STR vs. Grabs 3 5) Joint Lock/Grab: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, +20 STR for holding on 5 6) Kick: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, STR +6d6 Strike 3 7) Legsweep: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, -1 DCV, STR +3d6 Strike, Target Falls 4 8) Punch: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, STR +4d6 Strike 3 9) Throw: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +1 DCV, STR +2d6 +v/5, Target Falls 4 10) Tien-hsueh Strike: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, 3d6 NND 4 11) Uproot/Sand Palm: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +25 STR to Shove 1 12) Weapon Element: 'Deadly Furniture' 8 13) +2 HTH Damage Class(es) Martial Arts Cost: 51 Cost Skill 3 Acrobatics 14- 3 Acting 13- 3 Breakfall 14- 3 Bureaucratics 13- 3 Climbing 14- 3 Contortionist 14- 3 Conversation 13- 3 Criminology 12- 3 Deduction 12- 3 Interrogation 13- 3 Paramedics 12- 3 Persuasion 13- 3 PS: Policeman (INT-based) 12- 3 Security Systems 12- 3 Seduction 13- 3 Shadowing 12- 3 Sleight Of Hand 14- 3 Stealth 14- 3 Streetwise 13- 7 WF: Common Martial Arts Melee Weapons, Common Melee Weapons, Off Hand, Small Arms 10 +2 with HTH Combat 3 +1 with Kung Fu 3 +1 with DCV (5 Active Points); Requires A Acrobatics Roll (-1/2) 3 Linguist 0 1) Language: Cantonese: Idiomatic, native accent (Native Language) 3 2) Language: English: Idiomatic, native accent (4 Active Points) 2 3) Language: German: Completely Fluent, w/Accent (3 Active Points) 1 4) Language: Japanese: Fluent Conversation (2 Active Points) 1 5) Language: Russian: Fluent Conversation (2 Active Points) 3 Scholar 2 1) KS: International Criminals (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 2) KS: International Law (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 3) KS: Kung Fu (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 4) KS: Espionage/Spy World (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 5) KS: World Terrorism (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 3 Traveler 2 1) AK: Beijing (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 2) AK: Berlin (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 3) AK: Geneva (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 4) AK: Hong Kong (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 5) AK: Washington (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- 2 6) AK: Moscow (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 12- Skills Cost: 118 Cost Perk 5 Fringe Benefit (International Police Powers) 5 Contact: Superior in UNTIL (12-) (Contact has access to major institutions, Good relationship with Contact) 12 Contact: UNTIL (11-) (Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has: useful Skills or resources), Organization Contact (+2) (12 Active Points) Perks Cost: 22 Cost Talent 12 Combat Luck: 6 PD/6 ED Talents Cost: 12 Total Character Cost: 350 Pts. Disadvantage 20 Hunted: UNTIL, More Powerful, 14- (Very Frequently), Watching, Extensive Non-Combat Influence 10 Psychological Limitation: Cannot Take Life Seriously, Common, Moderate 15 Psychological Limitation: Bit of a Skirt-chaser, Very Common, Moderate 10 Psychological Limitation: Has Problems with Authority, Common, Moderate 5 Reputation: Maverick Cop, Frequently (11-), Known Only To A Small Group (International Criminals and Law Enforcers) 20 Hunted: VIPER, More Powerful, 8- (Occasionally), Harshly Punish, Extensive Non-Combat Influence 10 Hunted: Green Dragon, As Powerful, 8- (Occasionally), Harshly Punish 10 Distinctive Features: Style, Concealable, Noticed and Recognizable, Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses 10 Enraged: Casual Harming of Innocents, Uncommon, go 11-, recover 14- Disadvantage Points: 110 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 40 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0

He looks like quite a nice speedster with a wide variety of powers from a background point of view. From a gaming point of view, I would would have problems as a GM with his lack of defenses. OK, so he's not going to get hit by direct attacks very often, but a 8d6 AE attack has a good chance of leaving him Stunned, while an unlucky direct hit from a 14d6 attack (remember, he can dish out 13d6 with his own hyperspeed punches) will leave him bleeding to death on the floor. His lack of resistant defenses also leaves him vulnerable to killing attacks - getting hit by the equivilent of his own friction burn attack would leave him in serverly injured and possibly dying. While it always grates to reduce a characters 'Schtick', I would be tempted to shave a few points off your speed powers and buy an armoured custume, speed force field or something similar. Not enough to make you 'tough', but enough that a single blow from a supervillian won't land you in hospitol (12-14 points would be my aim, YMMV). An other alternative would be to buy huge REC and Regeneration ('Hyperspeed Healing') so that you do go down with every hit - and then you get back up again. That would cost a fair number of points, though. Nice selection of powers though, and I agree that the sonic boom is a valid disadvantage. Having run a game (using DC rules) where a character could cause sonic booms from the knockback of his punches, he soon learnt to curtail his style in populated areas .

Nope - in fact it's quite inefficient... the Drain has a much lower AP cost then the multipower pool would allow, because I wanted it to match the drain rate of the Transfer. Michael

Unfortunately not... I checked recently and discovered this wasn't the case (I always thought it was too). Michael

I'm putting together a character with a slightly strange power construct. Basically, he has a HKA which also reduces his targets END - first with a Transfer, and when that can absorb no more points, with a Drain. I was planning to put the Drain and Transfer in a Multipower to reduce the cost, and then MPA the HKA and the relevant slot from the Multipower. The question is this: can I place Linked on the overall Multipower? (each of the slots has a lower AP cost then the HKA) I can't see any reason why not in FReD, but Hero Designer won't let me and Dan is normally quite accurate about these things... Hope this makes some sense, and opinions please Michael