Chimpira

Re: What would your character do #~75 Jack T. Chance "Told you I didn't vote for him." Daniel Knight He would double check the source of the information to determine whether or not he is being used. If it is indeed fact and he can not prove that voting has been tampered with, he would take his group underground and do damage control while trying to establish a network of spies and informants to be able to take him down. Bane He would be extremely upset, seeing as he put the idiot on the throne himself. He would then take out his frustration on the King for being lied to and being given a royal title because the king thought it would be funny if the vampire was referred to as Count.

Re: What would your character do #74 (or so):Gift of Power? Jack T. Chance: He would have an E-Bay sell to end all E-Bay sells. Bane: He would use his resources to find a suitable candidate, preferably someone interested in the rebuilding of America and turn it over to them Daniel Knight: He would have a private conversation with his sister in law. He will tell her that if something was trying to attack him through the ones he loved that this was her emergency back up. This is one of those break glass in case of emergency type of situations to protect herself and his nephew.

Re: Does Champions encourgage conformity? No, my worry would be that they took all that damage and now because they were stunned they can not do anything about it. If it was coordinated I could say they were a victim of superior teamwork. If it was a massive blast from the major bad guy I could say that his superior power just overwhelmed him at this time. But if a well built mook with a bat knocks them upside the head and they get stunned from a bad roll well that is just bad luck. And my players have plenty of bad luck as is. But the upswing would be that your players would have to assess every situation carefully because the odds are someone is going to get stunned. Mostly the henchmen will be stunned from low powered attacks from your players making them something of a bump in the road as the players usually go more times and faster than said henchmen. If it works then it works and no one can complain about that.

Re: Does Champions encourgage conformity? That is true. If that is what you and your players want I am not saying to not do it. But I think that my players would not like it. The idea of taking 3 stun and having to save vs stunning seems to slow down the game by adding yet another roll. In addition if you will need to roll every time you got hit and if you get hit multiple times in a round by very little damage the odds start working against you that you will not be stunned. If you are attacked by multiple opponents not coordinating attacks and 5 hit you doing about 4 points each (working off the notion that the hero has a def of 20 and a con of 23. The villians have an EB attack that is 7d6 for the average of 24 point of damage) you are going to have to save vs being stunned 5 times at 13 or less. Now the damage done to you if they had coordinated attacks adds up to 20 points which is not enough to stun you but enough for your player to go "whew, that was close. I better try to take these guys out fast." Now if you mix a couple of supervillians in the midst of those hencemen, the odds are more in their favor that the heroes will be stunned and anyone with a forcefield, that is not bought at 0 end persistent, is getting taken out of the fight right off the bat. Autofire, Armor-piercing, penetrating attacks, NND's and uncontrolled become that much more potent (and probably should cost more) because you have to worry about your con roll constantly. I can not imagine anyone buying a con lower than 20 to play in such a game. Some of my players have done that because having a con higher than 20 did not fit into their character concept. I do not mind dice rolling but I would not like a game that depended on me constantly rolling the dice to see if I am in the game or on the sidelines. If this is your sort of thing then by all means play what you like. It is all about having fun. Good gaming.

Re: Does Champions encourgage conformity? Wait a minute. So you are telling me that you roll for stunning anytime anyone takes damage? Even if it is only 5 points over your defenses, your players have to roll to save versus being stunned? That sounds kind of like your players are getting the short end of the stick on that one. If I am misunderstanding you, please forgive me. It has been a long day.

Re: Are you Judge, Jury, and Executioner? I ran a game once that had branched out of a solo. It seemed that something had attached itself to a research spacestation. A player was sent up to investigate and see if it was sentient as it was in some sort of stasis cocoon. While on the station it awakens and begins to slaughter everyone inside. The hero is knocked out and left for dead. He awakens and manages to get off the station with a handful of people. He calls the team together. The team goes up and after much hunting and fighting, they are able to barely beat it into unconsciousness. Then, the debate begins. Half the group believes that they should imprison it and the other half want it dead. Usually my players up to that point had never contemplated killing before but the thing was just that dangerous. In the end they contained it and took it back for study.

Re: Does Champions encourgage conformity? No, my heroes would be upset if they worked their butts off to coordinate attacks and the villian laughed at them showing how futile teamwork really is. I didn't say that it was a bad system (in fact I think I complemented you on it) but truth be told a con of 30 is not all that impressive especially if they have what 35 in PD and ED. So my players would have to do 65 points of damage to them in the wild hope that he would be stunned. That is about 19d6 on the average. Now to make the roll 11- I need to do 20 more points of damage. Which means about 24d6 on the average. Which could work for my guys if they have 60 active attacks except that stun damage is handled separately per character against defense before adding for combined stun. So to have an even chance at stunning the baddy, they would need to do a combined total of 130 points of damage or about 38d6 on the average. I was not even talking about those people with good defenses that use damage reduction. Sometimes it is that 3-7 points that win the day. But overall I agree that it is a shame for people to get stunned and put out of the action and if this works for you I say good going. For years I just simply disregarded the stun rule. Plus I just do not want to add more rolls to combat. If my math is off then I sincerely apologize and will take my head out of my butt.

Re: I have it! I have it! Got my copy yesterday. Loving the criminology and forensic section.

Re: Gadgeteer/Martial Artist vs the Big Boyz/Gurlz Well, this might not be along the same lines but I got to play in a game where the suit guys won out over the power guys. In the campaign that I was playing in, myself and the team's young suit guy went to sanctuary for a much needed break. My regular character just wanted to relax with his wife, so I played Defender. Well, all the suit and gimmick guys got pretty much teased by all the power guys with their bronze skin and muscles. We just could not stack up outside our suits. We played up the pasty white skin jokes. We were on the island about the time that they did the annual Mr. and Mrs Sanctuary. Seeker from the Champions and Lorelei from the Strike Force were a shoe in as they had won the previous five years in a row. We decided that we had enough and went about rigging the contest like Revenge of the Nerds. We sponsored my friend as the male candidate and the villian Ladybug as the female candidate. We had to go through various competitions and talent shows which we used our super science skills to ace. Seeker found himself dead drunk in his room and Lorelei had a teleportation 'accident' that sent her to Pine Bluff Arkansas. It was a great night. Of course we got caught in the end but it was still fun.

Re: new campaign how to start This kind of reminds me of Strike Force Morituri. The characters were given powers to defend the earth, but the catch was that they would die in a year's time. It was kind of brutal. Good read for the most part though.

Re: Does Champions encourgage conformity? Actually I kind of dig that, but then you run into the problem of villians with high con. If my players combined attacks and was able to do enough to just barely stun him, they would look pretty upset if I took out the dice and said,"Hmm. Doctor Apocalypse has a 30 con so minus the damage you did I need to make a 14 or less roll." I am generally going to make that roll. I have been lucky in that most of my players will jump to help out another when they get stunned. Jumping in the way of EB's, trying to block physical attacks coming his way and what not. I use the rule of X in my game and this is the first time that I have not had the usual degree of sameness. I have 6 players, their dex's range from 15 to 30 and not a single one acts on the same dex. The same is true for their attacks which range from 50 active to 75 active.

Re: Villian Planning Session What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Re: Villian Planning Session Well if they are only getting paid $500, 000(and that spreads pretty thin over a whole organization unless it is a very small one), why spend too much out of your own pocket if you do not have to? So, yeah I went from the angle that they did not have any shapeshifters or high tech gadgets. A man has got to look at the bottom line.

Re: Villian Planning Session Yeah, I am in agreement with Chuckg on the IT angle. But I used to work in security and you would be surprised how many people will report unfamiliar face. First I would pick a friday for this to go down. I would research and find an IT guy that had quite a few dependence. Kidnap the whole lot of them. If the IT guy does not take me with him to work to make the computer swap, something wicked will happen to his family(as this place is open to the public coming with him to work should not be that big of a deal. I see people that do that in places that are closed to the public). I will tell him that I will need a couple of days after this deal is said and done. So he needs to tell everyone that I am an old friend from college and we are planning a family outing for this weekend. I assure him that as everyone is going to see my face anyways I will have no need to kill his family or him. I plan on being on some tropical island spending my money. As I am his guest I need to stick close to him all day. I monitor the swap on the computer (which should occur around lunchtime for his other IT buddies) and chit chat with the employees on what a great time we are going to have this weekend. after it is all said and done. I arrange an accident for the family and one other person about my size. Something fiery. It will be placed about half way to the vacation spot. I return to my cult.

Re: A contriversial "Would your character...?" I can only think of a single character of mine that would not let his personal discomfort get in the way of saving millions of peoples lives (and he has a hell of a good reason of why) Jester: He would go along with and probably not know what to do after it is all said and done. He would hope that one of the smarter teammates came up with a plan to stop the baddy. Bane:Who is really a later more experienced version of Jester would not be able to concieve because he was turned into a vampire. Nonetheless, his philosophy would be that no scheme is fool proof. He would not care a whit about the public seeing him in the altogether. His first priority would be keeping them alive, while his team, which he led, would use the distraction to the fullest. If all else failed, he would have to use his power of mind control. (He never used it as it was built as a powerful attack that would make any woman fall madly and obediently in love with him. He hated the power and only used it once. Coincidently millions of lives were at stake and he had lost several teammates. He always regretted having to alter (basically enslave) that woman's mind. His teammates did not know that he was capable of such a thing, so I highly doubt the foe would either) Jack T. Chance:Would have to be constantly reminded that he is SUPPOSED to be doing this because she is not giving him any choice. He would be too busy tossing his clothes over his shoulder and doing the woo-woo noise like one of the three stooges at the end of the bed, to pay them any notice. Daniel Knight: He would plot this out. His child might become the heir of his Heartstone and that could spell disaster for every sentient life in the universe. He, also, had a wife that would not be keen on this idea. He is the only character that I played that might doom millions to death because he protected trillions upon trillions. It would tear him apart but he would probably say no.

Re: Does Champions encourgage conformity? I have a power gamer in my group. He is a good friend and it is not that much of a problem because I am pretty strict when it comes to game balance. He was sitting around with the group when I informed a player that just because you do not take a limitation on your powers does not mean that it will work under certain conditions. If you had a fire based character and he/she did not have a good reason why their flame powers would conceivably work while at the bottom of the ocean, guess what? The powers were not going to work. My power gamer friend widened his eyes at this. I told him that just because you do not take a disad, does not mean it will still work, I will just give you a little more leeway. For example, if the fire character was hit with a water blast, their power would still be fine but total submersion would be a hard pill for me to swallow unless you have a reason more substantial than simply not getting the limitation. In my group I stressed the importance of the character concept and told them to think of that before even cracking a book open. I have players that will not use all their points because they feel like this is how the character should be when they enter the game. Not having a straight power cap helps as well. I use the rule of X, so I have a lot more variety in my players than I used to when I would tell them 60 active was the max.

Re: Ultimate vs The Authority Um.. I am going to have to agree with Chuckg on that one, Wanderer.

Re: Ultimate vs The Authority The bottom line is that sometimes they do things because they are the right things to do and sometimes they do things because they are told to. Sometimes they do things to discourage further behavior. I have seen displays of courage and patriotism that will influence how I see the world until I die. All this due to my close association with the army. This is not the place to talk about it though. Killing all the blues would be genocide. Is what they did instead horrible in the extreme. Yes. Could the writer or editors thought of something else. Sure. I do not see the JLA as wussies. Nor did I imply that they were. Wussies. I can not believe I am actually writing that word. As for your complaint of that is not the JLA's fault but the Editors. If it happens in their world I have to take the good with the bad in the continuity of that universe. I think that DC has a great universe with a host of great characters. I have never said different. I liked The Authority up to a point and you did not. I think that is about all that can or should be said about that. I do not want to derail this thread more than it already has been.

Re: Ultimate vs The Authority

Re: Ultimate vs The Authority

Re: I love The Ultimates I seem to remember a time that he was hitting the Hulk with the hammer and causing shockwaves.

Re: Ultimate vs The Authority Actually I think that The Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns attacked those cliches. But I am not going to try and dissuade you from your opinion. I liked the Authority when it was written by Ellis because it was not supposed to go past 12 issues. Not his vision at any rate. Sometimes...Heck a lot of times, things should end but the fans will not let it. Personally, I felt that the X-men jumped the shark when they moved to Australia and I stopped buying it. What I do find interesting is that the Authority that I hate is written by the same man that writes the Ultimates that I like. Oh, yes. Mark Millar wrote for both.

Re: Ultimate vs The Authority I never saw Ellis say that they were a force for 'good' in his universe. Jenny Sparks just showed up to get King and Trelaine on her side to run interference with the UN. If they believed that The Authority needed information from them (information that they indeed did not need), then the UN would believe that they had some form of leverage.

Re: Ultimate vs The Authority The Ultimates have been very good but I have to admit that I still prefer the first 12 issues of Authority. After the first twelve the writer and artist left the book as they really told the stories they wanted to tell. The artist on the Ultimates is the same guy, Bryan Hitch, that worked on the first 12 issues of Authority. My favorite bit in Authority is when the Engineer landed on the moon and was amazed by that fact. She had been to different dimensions, fought off a nation of supervillians (think mini superman's) and has replaced all her blood with nanotechnology but the simply fact of being the first woman on the moon as she looked up at earth still amazed her. It showed a deeply human side to her. The relationship between Apollo and Midnighter seemed tender as well. You could tell that these two men were deeply in love with one another. after the first twelve I would not bother as it took a big turn and the characters all of a sudden just cared about getting drunk, having sex and making really crude jokes.

Re: Ideas for a Solo Adventure I love doing solo's because the player can spend more time developing his/her own personal universe. Well, The first thing to look at are her disads. Does she have any hunted? How does the group, PSI, work in your game? Are they supervillians that run around in costume or are they a mysterious force slowly taking control of the world? Is she a mutant? Is this solo only going to be a one shot or something that might take up a little time? Is the solo going to be something that is happening in chronological order with the game or is it an event from her past? During one of my games, the players were looking for someone that could supply the capitol to build a base. The leader,Nautica, of the group, whom was a female telepath by the way, met with several people interested in helping them. The last one was a woman in her mid sixties called Pearl. The lady informed the Nautica that she was glad to see her again as they had met on the second time Nautica went into the past. She, then, gave Nautica a necklace that was given to Pearl by her in the past. All this came as a shock to the player that had no clue of why she would be time traveling. The necklace, which was a pardox, became a plot device that would allow her to weather changes to the time stream and with help she could travel back in time to put everything back on course. Her solo's were pretty fun because she got to interact with people from the past. If you are going to do a lot of solo's with this person, then, I suggest looking at it like a mini campaign that at times could touch the main campaign. PSI would make a good foil for her, especially if she runs up against a plot by them and intervenes. She could run into NPC's that are part of a government or maybe UNTIL agency whose sole purpose is to stop the group PSI. This works best if PSI is more covert, obviously. She could do missions for the agency (like Alias). If you are doing a one off, you could always have her walking through a crowd of people when she hears in her mind, "I am going to kill them all tonight." or get them all or something similiar. A quick sweep of the crowd and she finds that two or three people are shielded from her telepathy. She needs to find the right person planning something nefarious and hey what is up with the ones that are shielded from her but are not planning some type of evil?