Alverant

Re: Foxbat: A place in your campaign? In the campaign I'm in, Foxbat is a LOON! Unfortunately he popular, very rich, and very lucky as well, but first and foremost he's a LOON. Oh, he also has a very competent butler and horde of lawyers who are very well paid and know there are few problems that Foxbat causes that can't be fixed by adding zeroes to a check. He's sometimes a villain, but the populas doesn't take him seriously. He gets these wild ideas that don't strictly work out but always wind up making money for him. In the campaign he has a crush on our female character who, while an adult, is still emotionally about the same as a child. To her boys are still gross and kissing them is icky. Foxbat (who is mature in comparison) doesn't let that stop his attempts to romance her. That's good for us because we don't mind protecting her from his advances. Did you know that when frozen in time, Foxbat makes a great club and throwing object? So in the end we have a LOON who's schemes both amuse the city and generate money thereby (in addition to his lawyers) keep him safe from a righteous pounding from probably the only group of people who don't like him.

Re: Campaign cliches we love Been there. Except this was a decent character, it was always the PLAYER who got on everyone's nerves who wound up leaving (after she left I think each of us cheered inside).

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did Except Civil War is suppose to be permenently part of the continunity. Marvel really seems to be reinventing itself. Spider-man's secret ID is known to more people (Stark built him an armored costume and recruited him to be on the pro-gov side). I'm pretty close to giving up on comics, at least Marvel comics, because of this.

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did The rumor is several Warriors die including Speedball (who is suppose to be invulurnable.) The Civil War title comes from when this incident "forces" US government to step in and pass a law that every costumed crimefighter and metahuman must register with the govenment (real name, powers, etc) and get training to become licensed. Half the heroes agree and half do not. So we have some good guys trying to bring other good guys in. This wouldn't be a bad idea for an RPG campaign if 1) the setting wasn't so well established and 2) most of the heroes were on one side or the other reducing the "rogue element" to a small bunch of "kiss-ups" (pro) or "anarchists" (con). By splitting things right down the middle, you're just asking for trouble and could divide the players. It's easier if they accept things one way or the other and build their characters around that concept.

Re: Comics you loved...but apparently no one else did No one has mentioned this title yet (or if they did, I missed it) but I loved Darkhawk. Someone said !mpact was silver-age heroes in the iron age. Darkhawk was the same way (but with an edgier name). I guess I should also mention the Avengers. Would they count since they got their own reboot (read, most popular Marvel characters on one team for no other reason apart from marketing)? Rant warning: I'm getting tired of how Marvel is treating its titles. It's like unless you have an X or Spider in a name, there's a good chance it will be given a lousy writer/artist (see the 6-issue New Warriors miniseries) then it will tank and Marvel Management will wonder what went wrong. To further insult the New Warriors, now I hear they're going to trigger some horrible event this summer which will change the Marvel Universe.

Re: Character Idea: A "Transformer" in Champions I could see working some Transformers into Champions. Imagine your team just defeated Mechanon. He's about to transfer himself to a new body. But it doesn't work. Right before his body self-destructs he says, "Master please! Give me another chance! Unicron..!" BOOM!

Re: "Look, up in the sky! It's Super Saint!" Christian-themed heroes I thought it was also in Ultimate Supermage. A lot of the material was carried over to 5th edition. Doesn't really matter. Ultimate Mystic and Mystic World cover most of USM. Also I didn't say what kind of angel it was. They all pretty much have the standard impossible for mere mortals to meet. The idea I was trying to bring up is having a villain who is doing what they think is best and can't quite grasp the fact not everyone has to agree with him. Put this villain in a nice setting where nothing "provokes" him and he'll hang up the tights and stop being a superbeing or even become a helpful person working at a soup kitchen or free hospital. That's what I mean, someone who sees themselves as a hero who is defending their morals. This is "ends justify the means" as well as "means justify the end". I get the impression that the Rapture SG would fight to stop bank robberies, but doing good in that instance doesn't mean their other acts or ultimate goal is good either.

Re: Character Idea: A "Transformer" in Champions Transformers had Headmasters and Powermasters (human partner changed into the engine). If you're commited to a 100% robot, you can have a small android pilot the larger robot. There wouldn't be a need for a big (if any) cockpit. You'd just plug yourself in like the Matrix. Or you can go with another Transformer gimic, Pretenders. Taking "since when do Transformers conserve mass?" to a whole new level, you have a human shell containing the robot. The shell splits open/disolves/whatever and the robot comes out of it growing to its full height. It doesn't have to be a large robot either. Transformers had Micromasters and Minicons who were roughly human sized. Sure the cars they changed into looked like something you see on a bumper car rink, but it still transformed.

Re: "Look, up in the sky! It's Super Saint!" Christian-themed heroes

Re: Concepts you wish your players would play If it helps, the best way to cope with a VPP is to have the powers written beforehand. With my gadgeteer, the power slots are explicit. But my other character, who is more versitle, I have generic power listing. First I have a chart of an attack power at highest level with advantages from +0 to +2 (necessary because the VPP is through a OIF). Since it is with a limitation, I already have points for another power. It's few enough points to work on the fly and having a standard list of costs helps. Then I have predefined sets of powers like; full attack, XrPDXrED, Y Flight. If I go fancy, then that's what the entire VPP does and I don't mess with using every single point.

Re: Concepts you wish your players would play Well part of the problem is that Mr.GM isn't exactly prompt on responding to email. He often forgets and when he does remember, his replies are often short. Strangely enough, he has time to send jokes and funny pictures to everyone. I could talk to him after a game, but they last so long I'm too exhausted to do so. My supermage is a technomancer. He's got some unusual spells. The problem is he gets treated like Bruce Lee by other mages. (Mr.Lee developed a new style of martial arts he was ostrasized and demonized.) This spilled over into the supergroup itself and is getting a bit old. The character himself is becoming more discouraged. His original goal was to legitimize and define technomancy. I have split it into 3 parts. Scimancy, magic based on bending (not breaking) the laws of science. For example since mangatism and electricity are related, he has a spell that channels Earth's magnetic field into an electric blot. Likewise by changing H-bar (a constant in quantum mechanics) atomic nuculi destablize and fly apart. Urban Magic, best way to put it is the city version of druidic magic. In the Hero books this includes the spells Smog Alert, Dereliction, Urban Renewal, and Kiddie Spacegun of Doom! Basically magical pop culture references. True Technomancy, technology and magic working together. This would technically include enchanged swords and armor (primitive technology is still technology). Modern-day examples include enchanted PDAs, cell phones that can call up people's minds or other dimensions, and cars running on fire elementals. I have so many ideas for spells, I should have a VPP. It's the big thing I want to check with the GM about. Fortunately I have experience in VPPs with another character so I won't be abusive.

Re: Concepts you wish your players would play The potential problem I see with having only one team mystic, is that in other-dimensional adventures (which is a big part of Mystic World) you'd be relied upon to provide a way home. That level of Extra-D movement is expensive and a stop power so technically you shouldn't put it in a power framework. On the other hand, you'd have the problem of being under-used, becoming an energy projecter with a mystic slant. That is what is happening to my own supermage. I want to focus his attention more on magic, but the GM has been slow to come around. You have to be careful about stepping on the other players ideas, but your own has to be workable in a campaign. Since you're going with the mystic idea, I suggest a defender archtype. Someone who stays on Earth most of the time and defends against extra-dimensional beings. Any dimensional travel would most likely be local (Babylon, Fairie, etc). Because if you make a character who wants to explore the outer planes, pass the veil, etc it would be hard on the GM and the non-magical characters.

Re: Hindu-themed hero This is an interesting topic. Does anyone know of any website I can go to so I can learn more about the eastern religions? This for academic, not spiritual, reasons. As a whole American society doesn't know much about them. There's some big differences, the nature of divinity, good and evil, afterlife, spiritual growth, cosmology, how they get along with other religions, etc. I'm also wondering if a Champions player in India ever said to his/her GM, "I'd like to play a character based on the Christian saints."

Re: Was watching Superman TAS and wondered about Mxyzptlk The voice in Supes TAS was perfect. I see him as a comic relief, someone you have to outthink rather than "punch until bloody". In an RPG, he's a plot device without stats. He's perfect for the superhero who takes himself too seriously. And being the most powerful hero on Earth, he's a perfect match for the most obnoxious higher being.

Re: Was watching Superman TAS and wondered about Mxyzptlk

Re: Concepts you wish your players would play We have one in the campaign I'm in and the GM keeps forgetting he's blind. Several times we've heard phrases like "you see on TV" or "in your book of magic you read" (there are no braile versions of ancient magic grimores) or "look over there" or "you get in your car and drive". Personally I think it's a bit of a pain, but it's not my character. The player wanted something different and this is what he wanted.

Re: Campaign cliche: The demise of the Champions In a campaign I'm in now, we started out as novice heroes, some of us just got our powers. The city's current supergroup recently vanished. At first we tried learning what happened and establishing ourselves as a defacto-superteam. Not an easy task when the GM is throwing new things at us. Three later we only found out what happened to half the members. Plus only about half of us have the superhero mentality. The other have have different motivations. For example my character is a scientist/sorcerer first and spends more time doing research than patroling the streets. Another character has been described as having "the mentality of a 5 year old with ADD and on a sugar rush" who'd rather watch Sponge Bob and Kim-possible than almost anything else.

Re: How to Overthrow the Alien Overlords? I appreciate your point of view, but I was pulling the "nuke" thing out of the air. But you're assuming it's one of our nukes that gets launched. China, Russia, India, France, and other countries have their own nukes to use if they feel threatened. They may not have the same safeguards we do. Don't forget, a leader has a tendency to include like-minded people in his cabnet. Plus people can be tricked. Someone who is fanatically anti-alien could manufacture evidence and convince the right people of its validity. Since there's a state of emergency, we'd have the choice of striking first or get destroyed as we check for more proof. But they're not restricted to nukes. What happens when an ambassador gets murdered? It's what triggered WWI. Check the news, if a lone cartoonist can be the catlyst of national threats then a lone kook with a big mouth could cause uneasiness which leads to a "preemptive strike" on us. If China attacked first the rest of the world is guilty of association. If humans demonstrate the willingness to use such weapons then it's better to take care of all of them first. After all the aliens have been through, who knows what little thing could set them off. An easy victory can raise troop morale. My general point was that the plot could go that we started the war and got our butts handed to us. Say there was just 3 small ships initially. Someone gets the idea they'd be easy targets. Then the rest come at the worst possible moment. Finally there's no reason why the aliens couldn't manufacture the evidence we attacked first as a propaganda machine.

Re: How to Overthrow the Alien Overlords? To put my own two cents worth, I have some ideas for some twists in your campaign. 1) Earth started it. If aliens were unknown on Earth (or plausibly deniable) then the sudden appearance of clear proof that Earth and humanity is not special would throw a lot of strongly held beliefs into question. When that happens, some people will go to any length to defend them. It's possible in such a situation a rogue general tried to put a nuke on one of the alien ships. The armada retaliated and decided we were barbarians who needed to be reeducated or annihilated. 2) The aliens want us to join them. In a galactic example of battered spouse syndrome, the aliens are telling us they did what they did for our own good and that we deserved it. And we'll continue to be punished until we come to our senses. Some of the other races were treated the same way and are now a bunch of submissive yes-people to the bigger ones. If both ideas are used, they would have manufactured an excuse instead of receiving one. 3) The aliens used bio weapons that triggered mutations, intentionally creating superbeings they could then dominate mentally into their grunts. But an unknown factor in human DNA makes us more resistant to their mind control. The scattered alien fleet does not have the resources to go to a Plan B so its not fighting at top efficiency. 4) Not all the aliens agree. The initial assult might have been started by someone with a hot head and committed their forces without permission of the rest. The resulting power struggle and political maneuvering is leaving Earth under the sword of Dameclues (sp) when it's decided Earth will either be left alone or destroyed. How the characters act would determine what that is. 5) This was actually a plot of a book by the guy who played Quark on DS9. Earth was on the verge of developing a technological breakthrough that would have been a threat. The aliens attacked to destroy the device. This device would have literally destroyed the planet (it somehow makes a sun explode, that's where the Orion, Crab, and Horsehead nebulas came from). They decided it was better to have 2/3s of the human population destroyed than 3/3s and themselves. Now they have to institute order to make the best of the situaion.

Re: Mystic Masters campaign (old vs. new) I haven't checked out the rule changes in 5th ed, but I think Multiform would work as a substitute for Duplication. The player still only has one form active at a time, it's just that the other form is still tangible (but helpless) when activated. It still suffers from the same problem I have with Duplication, reduced XP. If you buy a skill or improve your mental stats you also have to buy it for your Asteral Form. Even if it's a skill you can't use in Astral Form, you should still buy it unless somehow the character looses the knowledge when he goes Astral. For example let's say we have a high powered mage with a 60 STR TK and the Hoist skill. The TK is not bought for the Astral Form, but the mage would still need to buy the Hoist skill because he still knows the best way to lift things and would be able to coach other people if they can hear him. With that in mind, is there some rules loophole that lets you Mind Link with your unconscious self so your Astral Duplicate (not Multiform) has access to all your knowledge?

Re: Using Supervillain Psych Lims

Re: Mystic Masters campaign (old vs. new) Is there any chance this is a PBEM campaign? I love playing super-mages and other magical characters (yet don't read much swords/sorcery fantasy books, go figure). I'd like to join if it is.

Re: Using Supervillain Psych Lims That gave me an idea, if a villain expects the worst from people then he can be tricked. The "rebel" heroe can stage an arguement with the team leader when the villain is watching ending with "That's it, I'm quitting! You can fight him without my help!" Then the villain wouldn't suspect the rebel sneaking around from behind for a surprise attack.

In the villain write ups (especially mystical bad guys) I often see psych lims like "Irredeamably Evil". So how is that limitating? How can that be used against a character like a "Code of Honor"? Do you have NNDs with the defence being "having a spark of goodness in your soul"? Do you bait traps with puppies hoping your evil target will go out of his/her way to kick it? Do you raid a morgue to bait the cannabil you're trying to capture? If a "Casual Killer" is holding hostages, how is it hazardous to the villain? I was under the impression psych lims are meant to impeed a character but I don't see how that works with evil ones.

Re: Dr. Destroyer monologue Has anyone created their own Dr.Destroyer monologue they're willing to post here? They need that in Villainy Amok 2, example dialogues for egotisitcal villains. I guess Googling the speaches of some of history's tyrrants would help, but who wants to get into trouble with the NSA?