Kirby

Re: Question about mind control and enrage I would definitely say the mind control would work against your brick. Under Enraged, FREd says, "A character with this Disadvantage tends to become extremely angry and lose control of himself when confronted by certain situations or stimuli. When a character is Enraged, he mindlessly attacks.... He attacks with no regard for...[self, team, others]." (p.217) It wouldn't be a Disadvantage if it worked out your way. Depending on how the Mind Control worked, would -in my opinion- determine how long it affected you. If the Mind Control was "attack Johnny, he hit you," I'd say your enraged would still be strong and your brick wouldn't know the difference. If the Mind Control was "attack your buddy," then as soon as your next phase came around, you could start making rolls to recover from the Enraged, since you were no longer focused on it. However, if your buddy attacked you, then your enrage would have a focus.... The only way to "counter" something like this, would be if you bought a Psychological Limitation along the lines of "code of the mercenary" or "intent on completing mission." Though, this would run counterproductive to your Engraged and you might be coming out of them sooner than you liked. On a side, I think it's safe to admit you bought the Disadvantage as a way to save points on a power (STR & defenses "only when enraged," right?). Now it's come to bite you. Maybe you can save some XP and buy Mental Defense, with Limitations such as "only when enraged" (-1/4) and "only versus Mind Control (-1/4 to -1, depending on GM)." As an aside, if I were the GM, I would definitely exploit this Disadvantage and fast, since, for the most part, it is an actual advantage to your character (or seems to be to me). One day you're about to perform a mission when a bully bumps in to you. He shoves you and says something rude. Enraged may just go off, since you're being attacked. Maybe a teenage girl starts cussing at you: verbal abuse. Maybe you're in a bar where two people are in a heated argument. Person A throws a beer bottle at person B, but misses and hits your character. With an Enraged of 14- for being attacked, your character has to be hot tempered. A brick versus a normal with only 2-8 PD isn't going to last a turn. Even though you're a villain, you'd now be a murderer (or attempted murderer in their eyes) and have even more heroes after you. But that's just me. (Or is it? As another aside, I once had a PC hero (Golden Age) who was part of the Greek Pantheon named Orion. He was a flying brick, and a darn good one, for 250 points that included the Greek package requirement. Anyway, he had an Enraged when innocents were threatened but a Beserk when innocents were hurt. Well, there was this one time when the bad guys hurt an innocent by shooting her. My character went Beserk (recovery 8-) and trashed the bad guys. Still no recovery. Then I started attacking those weird chariots that were screaming, aka police cars. One of my teammates tried to stun me with a sleeping drug. It hit, but didn't penetrate, so I went after him and the vehicle he was in. He was smart enough to get out of there a.s.a.p. and take his girlfriend -another teammate- out of there. Unfortunately, this girlfriend was a doctor and a semi-mentalist. While I was trashing the vehicle, she came up and used her mental powers to try and calm me down. Not being the wisest, she hit me with an Ego blast. Unfortunately for her, I had Mental Defense (about 10 points or so) *and* Mental Awareness. She became my next target and left with a broken arm, if I recall correctly. So, after a trashed group of gangsters, two destroyed police cars, one damaged hero vehicle, two beat up teammates (one w/a broken arm), one ally (not alley) cat knocked into the next neighborhood, my character was ko'd by a powerful mystic who hit me with gas attacks. Then I started buying off that Beserk the very next time we received XP. Part of it was because of the GM's evil laughter when we once discovered a flaw the villains could use (quick, shoot the hostage and everyone fall down!).

Re: Shrinking + IPE = Desolid (Sort of . . .) If you don't mind going an alternate route, my suggestion is to buy teleport in the amount of running your character has, with a limitation of "visible," as well as line of sight (maybe?) and not through solids. To make you harder to hit, maybe buy some DCV levels linked to the telporting (so it'll be active the phase you teleport up to your next phase). This way, you won't get the DCV just for standing around being an average Joe, but if you use your teleport/desolid in combat, your 'harder to hit' aspect would make more sense that way. Finally, to lessen the damage, I suggest buying Damage Reduction 25% three times, and probably for both PD & ED. One on a 14-, the second an 11-, and the last on an 8-. With these, you'd only roll 3d6 once. If you rolled a 15-18, no reduction; if you rolled 12-14, then 25%; 9-11 would be 50%; and 3-8 would be 75%. You could also buy this as "visible," so if someone shot you with an energy blast, some might hit you, while a bit might phase through you. The same with physical blast like a bullet. Some hits, some fragments go through. This could also be described to a person hitting your character as maybe "like punching water." If you only wanted the damage reduction to apply after teleporting, buy it as "linked," or if you only wanted it during combat, maybe buy it with "costs END." Dang, I like this idea, I may have to use it! I hope you like it too, though, or that something from it helps.

Re: Title for the next HERO villains book I like this concept. My biggest disappointment with 5E is the lack of continuity from many 4E and prior supplements, almost all of which were ICE products. While I comprehend the legal issues that can be concerned with this, it is still saddening. Of course, the customers can include this material all we want, but ugh, the converting time. My two favorite villain groups, the Seven Horsemen and VOICE aren't included as well as a good module To Serve and Protect. Some of the other titles I will miss include: Villainy Unbound; Enemies for Hire; and Enemies: The International File. Two books for good guys include Target Hero and Allies. Hopefully we'll have some more books like these to keep us all happy. (I have only three 5E books now, so the ones I'm looking for *may* be out there.)

Re: from little plot seeds, mighty games do grow: Share you ideas! This was not in Steriaca's write-up. Had he done so, it would have been more plausible. Your additions to the scenario added the following: a cadre of mercenaries, the villain as a puppet, and daddy's influence. None of these were listed in Steriaca's submitted version. Your version is much more plausible; however, Steriaca's version "as it is written" doesn't contain any of these. That and his villain called for help instead of being a puppet. In case you didn't realize this, part of my reply was to his posting. Try this analogy and see if it makes sense to you. If you see a man about to walk off a cliff, you have four basic responses: 1) Ignore him. 2) Try and help him or warn him. 3) Insult him because of what he's doing. 4) After he walks off the cliff, peer over and look at the aftermath. I have no desire to ignore him right now, as we are both subscribed to some of the same threads. I have no need to insult him as that serves no purpose. Being apathetic and waiting until the damage is done helps no one. I chose to try and help him. In case you missed it, I corrected every misspelled word I found (the same as would have been done with a spellchecker had he used one) as well as grammar usage. I didn't berate him on any individual misspelled word, nor type any derogatory comments on Steriaca himself. The closest you could argue would be horrendous when describing his spelling (which means horrible, or shockingly dreadful) and yet I didn't degrade him as a person. If you argue about my statement on him not being willing to correct it, he informed "I am not going to waist [sic] my time doing my replies to messages twice...." That's simply your opinion. To me, it is not constructive to tell someone "you're making mistakes" and leave it at that. He may not realize just how many mistakes he's making. He may, and truly not care, but that will be determined later. One of the aspects of making posts is to be critiqued; it is delusional to think otherwise. I have yet to notice anyone who has made a post that hasn't been critiqued. You live and learn. I wrote: Take care. I hope this helps. Unfortunately, that is obvious. This is floccinaucinihilipilification. To summarize, I corrected Steriaca's grammar and spelling and asked questions about what seemed to be an unplausible write-up as was given. I also put down that I had previewed my post five times. It wasn't to do a "I am so great" Bart Simpson impersonation, it was to show that a first-run post will have errors in it. I not only found some errors, but oversights as there were pieces I wished to add, change, and remove as well. You initially wrote: "...I won't pass judgement," though this is what you did to me. And that's fine. Free will gives us the ability to judge what we do and do not like. It would have been more appreciated if you had been on-target with what you were referring to.

Re: from little plot seeds, mighty games do grow: Share you ideas! What or who is Fent? Are you talking about a deceptive movement? If so, that is feint . basically There is location such as here or there; your word should be their, which shows possession. processor supervillain Supper is a meal. everything The word heroes is the plural of a person that is a hero. The word heros is the plural of a hero sandwich. nemesis supervillain (kidnaped is technically correct, though rarely used, kidnapped is the more common usage) heroes heroes theme Now, to your spelling and grammar usage (or lack thereof), the lack of time isn't really a credible excuse. You have three basic options that can help you. The first is the cut and paste for spellchecking that has been mentioned, and that will not take long at all. The second is to click Preview Post instead of just Submit Reply. After you've previewed and proofread your post, then submit it. Finally, bring a dictionary with you. Not everyone on the list know how to spell all the words in the English language (American version ), but when they or I spellcheck by one method or another, we're learning from our mistakes or oversights; you can do this to if you make the effort. As to your rich girl post, it doesn't seem plausible as mentioned. How did this rich girl capture the heroes' nemesis? Did she hire another super to do the job? If so, is this super still on retainer? If not, how is she keeping the villain trapped? If the rich girl was able to hire one supervillain to capture another, why doesn't she just "keep" the supervillain she hired instead? Several villains are listed as mercenary status. If she wanted her own, why not just hire one of them? Alas, what is the heroes' motivation? Are you expecting them just to free the villain, or would they "free" him just to take him to jail? Finally if you don't have the time or inclination to correct your own posts, why do you expect us to view or review them? You are wasting our time by having to decipher what you mean. Look at how many corrections I found on these two posts. It isn't like you average five to 10 posts per day. Take the time out to show us some courtesy by correcting your own post, else you may find that people tire of reading them and don't respond. And where is the fun in that? Wouldn't you rather have people respond to the topic of your posts than the spelling and grammar usage? Take care. I hope this helps. (Reply previewed five times before submitted.)

Re: All this evil without a Champion to oppose

Re: Learning from mistakes You didn't explicitly state who won. Was it the villains? This was my first thought after reading your post (from the information on the latter half), though when rereading it, it seemed like the heroes may have (from the info on the upper half). Since you talked with the player after the game, I think you did everything pretty well. I just have to options that might help the player and his PC, but you'll know better than me. Both are on the theme of rematch. 1) If the heroes won, then the next time the PCs are fighting a villain group of hired muscle, said NPC nemesis is one of them. He boasts he'll take care of said PC " 'cause he's a lot softer now." Those two go one-on-one; your results may vary. 2) If the heroes lost, then during some other plot you are running. The villains show up out of the blue because they want another go-around with these "creme puffs." Their first attack (maybe by surprise) is to entangle the main PC. Not an entangle that will keep him out of all combat (though they think it will), just a phase or two. "We want to save you for dessert, pretty boy!" Then the group goes one-on-one with everyone else, with the extra (if any) "guarding" said PC. The guard is either the weakest member, the one most susceptible to said PC's attacks, or his nemesis. Unfortunately, by "guarding" the villain's definition is to have his back turned to the PC while watching the fight, cheering his teammates on. This way, when our underdog escapes the entangle, he gets one heck of a surprise move on his opponent, and maybe he can turn the tide of the fight. 2b) If the "guard" was not his nemesis, then his nemesis sees the beating of the guard, breaks off the fight who he's with and yells that he's going to squash our mentioned hero. This way, hero should be relatively fresh with villain slightly worse for wear and both seeking retribution of some sort. Plus the *other* hero that was fighting the nemesis can take a recovery or go help someone else. Just my thoughts. I hope they help.

Re: All this evil without a Champion to oppose

Re: All this evil without a Champion to oppose

Re: All this evil without a Champion to oppose

Re: All this evil without a Champion to oppose Oh, a wonderful idea! Now, where are the points? Bring me my points!

Re: All this evil without a Champion to oppose

Re: All this evil without a Champion to oppose Yeah, I didn't like this part either, which is one reason I was trying to make his HtH attack via gauntlets. Maybe I can work on buying him martial arts (probably 'comic book' style) for those occassions. Ah, um, no. That was a misclick by me. I'll correct that. Thank you for spotting that. I like it. Now, where to find the points to pay for that? Good thinking, especially the DNPCs.

Re: All this evil without a Champion to oppose I would say "yes." One of the areas comics (and Champions) have been able to produce heroes from is the B.C. myths. Marvel and Champions (3rd or 4th E) had Thor, DC had Hawkman and Hawkgirl who were originally reincarnated Egyptians, and Champions under ICE had The Olympians. It would be easy to create a warrior from one of these and designate it as "holy" for special effect and complimentary background.

Hello everyone, Okay, here's what's been going through my mind. (And no, I won't let the doctors extract it.) We have lots of evil (and I mean EVIL, as from the village E-Ville) NPC villains that plague Champions Universe. We have Anubis, The Crowns of Krim, DEMON, Morningstar, Shadowdragon, and Takofanes who have either susceptibilities and/or vulnerabilities to holy items/places/attacks, along with (in my opinion) Black Paladin, Leech, and Slug who should. I have yet to see any character written up that would apply to these weaknesses, and a Disadvantage that isn't used ever in gameplay is like a limitation that doesn't limit. Has anyone created either a PC or NPC to "fight evil" of these types? I have tried to create a 350 point hero just to see what kind of beacon of hope I could create. I'm still contemplating changes and open for suggestions. I still have one point left, as I'm trying to eliminate the "flat of the blade attack" for a HtH attack with gauntelts. Who knows? Name: Paladin (or Champion, or something else good) Val Char Base Cost 25 STR 10 15 23 DEX 10 39 25 CON 10 30 15 BODY 10 10 15 INT 10 5 15 EGO 10 10 20 PRE 10 10 16 COM 10 3 8/26 PD 5 3 8/26 ED 5 3 5 SPD 3.3 17 10 REC 10 0 50 END 50 0 41 STUN 41 0 6" RUN 6 0 2" SWIM 2 0 5" LEAP 5 0 ------------------------- STR Roll: 14- Run: 6" DEX Roll: 14- Swim: 2" CON Roll: 14- Leap: 5" INT Roll: 12- EGO Roll: 12- PER Roll 12- ------------------------- Pts. Power/Skill/Perk/Talent END Helmet of Salvation 2 1) Sight Group Flash Defense (4 points) (4 Active Points); OAF (-1) 0 2 2) Hearing Group Flash Defense (4 points) (4 Active Points); OAF (-1) 0 24 Breastplate of Righteousness: Armor (12 PD/12 ED) (36 Active Points); OIF (Magic Armor; -1/2) 0 23 Flight 15", x4 Noncombat (35 Active Points); OIF (Armor; -1/2) 3 25 Sword of the Spirit: Multipower, 50-point reserve, (50 Active Points); OAF (-1) 5u 1) Energy Blast 10d6 (50 Active Points) 5 2u 2) Flat of the blade: Hand-To-Hand Attack +5d6, Penetrating (+1/2) (37 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2) 4 4u 3) Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2d6 (3d6 w/STR), Affects Desolidified Any form of Desolidification (+1/2) (45 Active Points); No Knockback (-1/4) 4 9 Demonbane magic: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6 (2d6 w/STR), Affects Desolidified Any form of Desolidification (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (30 Active Points); OAF (Sword; -1), Custom Modifier (Only vs. Magical and Evil creatures; -1/2), Linked (Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand; -1/2), No Knockback (-1/4) 0 28 Shield of Faith: Multipower, 50-point reserve, (50 Active Points); all slots OIF (-1/2), Activation Roll 15- (-1/4) 3u 1) Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack), Missile Reflection, Reflect At Any Target (50 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Activation Roll 15- (-1/4) 0 1u 2) Armor (6 PD/6 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (22 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Activation Roll 15- (-1/4) 0 37 Danger Sense (general area, any danger, Function as a Sense) 12- 5 Iron Will: Mental Defense (8 points total) 0 7 Power Defense (7 points) 0 10 Shape Shift ( Group), Instant Change 1 6 +2 with any three maneuvers (EB, HtH, HKA) 3 Deduction 12- 3 KS: Code of Chivalry 12- 0 Language: English (completely fluent) (3 Active Points) 2 Language: Latin (fluent conversation) 3 Paramedics 12- Disadvantages Pts Custom Disadvantage 35 (Fancy way of saying "I haven't figured these points out, yet") Hunted: Black Paladin 11- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish) 20 Hunted: Dark Seraph 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish) 15 Hunted: Anubis 8- (Mo Pow, Mildly Punish) 10 Hunted: Morningstar 8- (As Pow, Mildly Punish) 5 Distinctive Features: Mystical Aura (Not Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable Only By Unusual Senses) 10 Psychological Limitation: Code vs. Killing (Very Common, Strong) [Notes: Does not apply to unholy creatures/beings] 20 Psychological Limitation: Code of Chivalry (Very Common, Strong) 20 Physical Limitation: Chaste (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 15 XP 0 150 : Powers Cost 54 + Skills Cost 145 + Characteristics Cost 349 = Total Cost Some things I'm still not happy with are his few skills, his lack of non-lethal yet effective melee attack, I wanted him to be able to 'detect' evil people in his presence, should I give him a secret ID or public, and his hunteds. I wanted to capture the theme of the lone good guy versus overpowering baddies (sort of like the paladin class in D&D as the one who is destined to go up against multiple enemies or a single powerful one and he has a chance with his divine abilities.) He has 50 points of Hunteds, and that's *without* DEMON. I put them at 8- rolls because I didn't want them flocking together to deliver a brutal beating (also why he has Dark Seraph as opposed to all of The Crowns of Krim). Black Paladin has 11- because of his adamant anti-Christian views and I've always like him as a villain. I purposely did not give him any vulnerabilities to evil/unholy magic/attacks which would be the one big factor in his favor, i.e. they are more powerful than he is, but they are vulnerable to his attacks. Well, what do you think? All non-bashing critiques welcome.

Hello everyone, Have any of you either allowed, or been allowed to use an NPC as your PC and build the character up? For example, say in a 250 point game either a player or you as the player wanted to actually be Seeker from the Champions and was it allowed? How do you as GMs feel about this and have any of you as players wanted this? The next loop to the scenario is to ask instead of a hero, to play a waivering villain, such as Icecicle, or some other NPC who could go either way? Then finally, what about a normally misunderstood villain, like Grond? Basically, if a player wanted to play Grond (and he hadn't been used in your campaign yet) and would follow his 4E write-up mixed with his 5E stats in a 350 point game, with possible minor tweaking (raising the ego and intelligence slightly and lowering strength 10-20 points)? Finally, what if the player asked if his character could be a clone of someone (generally works best for bricks or energy blasters) and yet the mental aspects and skills were a bit different? How would you feel if a player asked something like that? As the player, are there villains or "neutral-ish" characters you would like to play if the GM allowed, as long as you followed the campaign guidelines? Thank you for your time.

Re: Scaling Villains? Absolutely! That thing is just grossly powerful. Good for you, I say. Or should that read: "Good for you," I say.(?) Yes, I've scaled back a few villains, but it was more for subplot reasons. The most recent example I can think of was scaling back the 4E Viperia. When the PCs first encountered her, she had been *released* from Malachite. (Basically, she was a preteen child in an 18-year-old body and Malachite didn't want her anymore.) She still had more points than the two characters that showed, though it was really more of a parlay situation than melee. The players actually did good conversation and nearly convinced her to let them help her in her panicked state. Unfortunately, when the police sirens came close, she asked if they could protect her and prevent her from going to jail. They were starting off by saying something like "No, but we can talk to the police for you and help you out," but she only heard the "No," failed her EGO check and fled. In essence, I generally keep the villains as written with minor changes (usually skills) to make them fit. Of course, I give them experience for each visit. Ack! Say it isn't so! In my experience, there have been very few villains I used that I thought were a bit weaker than their write-up (usually a lack of skills, combat or otherwise) but essentially liked how they were. I've been in games where the GMs have effectively used groups such as VIPER, VIPER teams, COIL, Eurostar, Card Shark, Zodiac -even when doing one-on-one fights, as well as the "lower-end" villains like Howler, Icicle, and Ogre. (These were all in 250 pt. games). While I only have VIPER, CKC and Champions Battlegrounds as resources for 5E villains, I have to say that most of them are high powered compared to 350 pt. character games. On the flip side, I even like it when some villains are purposely low-powered, such as Ack-Ack McCleary (sp?), Thunder & Lighting, Bulldozer.

Re: The original Jewish Superman! Ditto, though I'm no expert. What hasn't been mentioned that I've heard -about 15 or so years ago- was that the reason for creating Superman (as opposed to the inspiration behind it) had to do with Hitler's talk about creating ubermensch [which I believe he got from Nietzsche] proving/creating Aryan Germans as the superior race. The author didn't want to hear about *that* and so created his own as an ideal of what people could achieve (sans super powers). Anyway, it was on a show about DC Comics that I saw a *long* time ago.

Re: "Grond smash!" and other Grond plots Very well done! This has great potential for all types, speed characters, mentalists (oh, that would be funny!) energy projectors, etc. Maybe let the player be "Grond" for a week or so.

Re: "Grond smash!" and other Grond plots I like plots like this. I do find it very entertaining and challenging when the GM throws in a villain that could change his/her ways with some good interaction with the PCs. I was in a campaign where this theory happend, twice. In the first, we rescued Icicle and she became a good super (but only after her homework was finished .) Then, one of the players (who always managed a way to screw things up for us) decided he wanted to show he could do the same thing. He asked the GM if he could bring in a teen DNPC that he wrote up a background for. It turned out his background for her included being a test subject for a new assassin brainwashing technique. So we had the joy of trying to change this. Pile on to this that the player rarely took time to educate outside of anything but combat (and he was horrible on tactics to boot).

Re: "Grond smash!" and other Grond plots Heh, aside from the silliness of the post, I think this one could sort of work with some changes. Maybe work it so that one of the PCs is accused of a crime and there is video proof. The PC is taken to Stronghold and finds out that on his level, there are just a few prisoners who actually get along sitting around on the couches each day and Grond is one of them. Instead of "Friends," it could be called " 'Mates." Maybe?

Re: "Grond smash!" and other Grond plots Hmm... (looking up echidna in the dictionary) "Also called spiny anteater." That's not it, I hope. (Looking further in the definition.) Ah, here it is: "Echidna a mythical creature which gave birth to the Hydra and other monsters [from] Gk echidna , akin to echis viper."* Very interesting. I have The Olympians sourcebook from 1990. I am now contemplating a plot idea: Grond and some PCs are engaged in conversation/destruction/something when some people shouting Greek just appear. Everyone disappears in a flash. What's going on? Grond & the PCs appear in the midst of a battle. It's the Olympians versus the Titans, and both sides are trying to get Grond on their side (the PCs are mostly inconsequential in this bidding war ). What will Grond do? What will the PCs do? It's just like Ragnarok. Except that no one is Norse. And if you die you don't go to Valhalla. And other minor inconsistencies. Of course, if you don't have access to The Olympians is just doesn't matter. *Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 1996 (p. 617)

Re: "Grond smash!" and other Grond plots

Re: Mister Magnum for review Roger that. Hey, MisterD, I think "Mr. Magnum" has come along way from your first posted draft. He looks really good now! Being able to see his disadvantages helps me actually get a feel for his personality. I'm glad to see him with some armor, too. I must say that my favorite aspect that you created for him was the Never seems to run out of ammo Endurance Reserve. I think he's great now for a "starting out" character and my suggestion is to start spending some well-earned experience points on those everyman skills! Especially, climbing, concealment, paramedics, shadowing, and stealth. Little by little, and you'll get there. (At least, those are the skills my main DC character relied on the most out of those you listed.) Let us know how he goes during his first run, if you don't mind. Good luck.

Re: "Grond smash!" and other Grond plots I like this! Where did you get the name Akidna from? Did you make it up, was it from a Godzilla movie, or somewhere else? (I'm guessing the "Mother of all Monsters" is a reference for you.)