Tom McCarthy

TO Morrow conversion http://clix.themakis.net/question.jpg A simple conversion of TO Morrow. Not the coolest, but workable. He's T.O. Morrow body with a Blizzard head and thug's feet. Plus some sculpting for the cuffs, hat and hair.

I've dusted off Wrath after reviewing the thread. Conversions still seem easy to do. Conceptually, it's interesting the subject matter is still very 'on topic' today. How do you make heroes feel real dread ? What does it take to create horror in superheroes ? Compared to 5th edition characters, they are short on skills (as one would expect; before 4th edition mundane skills practically don't exist in Champions). They use END Battery instead of END Reserve, outdated EC rules, list limitations as positive fractions rather than negative, etc. Still, each character looks like no more than half an hour's work to bring up to date (more if you're unhappy with how the author attempts to capture the feel of such a primal entity). Interior art is credited to Jason Waltrip, but Destruction looks like the work of Scott (Protectors) Heine (or is that Bennie ?). Notes: Northern Star Needs some skills Based on 100 points; bump to 150 EC rules have changed END costs have changed to 1/10 active points END Battery replaced with END reserve Flight slot in EC adding to flight outside EC may be illegal Recharge power might better be bought as Aid to END Reserve with Side Effects Change END destruction to long term END drain Elder White Crawler END Cost now 1/10 active points Extra limbs much simpler Don't buy Growth always on, take physical limitations from Bestiary Mind Control command is 'Freeze' Public ID and Unusual Looks probably don't apply... White Crawler Larvae EC inappropriate Don't buy shrinking, take Physical limitation from Bestiary Prime The beak shouldn't be OIF TK is no longer rated in dice, and BOECV would significantly raise slot cost Starknights may need to be replaced with Star*Guard Black Death Don't buy Growth always on, buy Physical limitation from bestiary Replace piercing with extra DCs or armour piercing or penetrating, or even extra DCs, only to eliminate points of resistant defence. Repricing will significantly change cost Famine PD and ED aren't OIF claws. Why are claws OIF ? Restrainable more applicable. END Destruction becomes Drain END, continuous, damage shield, slow recovery BODY destruction becomes Drain BODY, slow recovery No skills ! Death Needs more skills Desolidification no longer bought in levels Claws should be restrainable, not OIF Consider replacing Growth and DI powers with a multiform to large, dense figure War No skills ! Massive KAs are rarely used; an important note Fear Piercing again 2D6 Ego Destruction becomes Drain EGO 4D6, slow recovery Martial arts based on adding DCs, not multiplying Archaeology and treasure hunting skills required Destruction Way beyond campaign limits for DEX Huge climbing roll; consider clinging Damage shield should have AE and continuous Plague Needs skills appropriate to his hypochondria Replace piercing Change transformation attack; cumulative now standard, but partial result is a bonus EC looks illegal Desolidification not bought by levels now BODY destruction becomes Drain BODy, slow recovery Dread Notes talk about 6D6 from STR, but it's STR 40 Notes talk about 3D6 CON transfer, but it's 2D6 CON destruction 1D6 flash is now 2D6 in 5th edition Only vs. darkness and cold is more like -1 or -1/2, not -2 Sword isn't really an OAF On the whole, these are nasty, nasty villains writ large; thay have big, splashy attacks and equally glaring weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and psychological limitations out the wazoo. For example, it's not enough to hate magicians, one of the characters is berserk at the sight of a magician.

I really liked Wrath of the Seven Horsemen for the inspiration and ideas it gave. The villains were all too powerful for the heroes I was running, and the whole adventure was more like chapters to be dropped into an ongoing campaign rather than as back to back sessions (though not stated clearly as such). Other problems in execution were less obvious (Death keeps all his levels of Growth on for as long as he has the END to do so, you're told; Death bought Growth as 0 END). At the time, I only had 4th edition rules, and it was a third edition module, but you could still figure out how to rewrite everything in 4th edition easily (and it's no harder with 5th). I was pretty shocked when one of the Hero insiders on the boards said they fought the Horsemen before they were toned down for publication.

So long as the defences still are no more than about 2 or 2.5 times the damage classes of the average attack, your games should still run just fine. Higher than that, and combat tactics will rapidly shift to attacks that generate extra damage (such as move through, haymaker, terminal velocity falls, armour piercing and find weakness, etc.) If defences are less than 1.5 to 2 times average DCs, the focus instead becomes on acting first, hitting first, and not being hit (lightning reflexes, DCV levels, desolidification, cover, dodging and blocking, missile deflection, etc.).

The WildStorm universe has quite a few titles that suggest that governments measure their strength against each other using superhumans as the yardstick. The superhumans of the WildStorm universe are indeed WMDs, being just as destructive, just as concealable, just as hard to detect, and having just as few defences. Notably, WMDs are actually used (as covertly as possible) against rogue superhumans. StormWatch (pre-Authority and post-Authority) often focused on the race between the UN and the nations of the world to secure and exploit any edge from alien technology, cybernetics, or the 'comet effect'. Chemical and biological weapons abound, and in the WildStorm universe, a team of 4 or more superhumans can actually change the geopolitical landscape, slaughtering an army, expelling invaders, or even wiping a planet clean of life. In the Wildstorm universe, fanatical terrorists aren't limited to hijacking planes or buying WMDs; they can go for full cybernetic replacements and buy alien energy blasters. In a less overwhelming way, Rising Stars deals with a small group of superhumans and how they change the world and human race. They don't see themselves as being WMDs, but their enemies do. (One of the few books that made me want to run a campaign with an extremely limited set of origins.)

I would build the message sending as Mind Link (any willing target, no LOS needed), broadcast only, allows no mental attacks, blocked by sight and hearing sense group affecting powers, with the side effect that the contact is delayed until the target sees a television (sort of an OIF television of opportunity). Barring GM approval for a whole new power, melee deflection would be bought using the Block maneuver. Melee reflection to the attacker is probably built as a damage shield. Buy something like 12 DCs of damage shield with variable SFX and variable advantage. Discount the advantages by something like 1/4 because the character can't control the advantages available, and limit the whole power to only do DCs up to the level of the attack reflected. Make the whole thing depend on a skill roll (Power: Melee reflection or, with GM's approval, the typical block/reflect OCV vs. OCV roll). Melee reflection to another target probably is a no range EB or RKA, or HKA/HtoH attack with similar advantages and limitations as above (variable SFX, variable advantage, RSR) or a way to force targets to interpose themselves (either Mind Control or Teleport targets so they dive for cover in front of you and take the hit).

I might build them as Continuous attacks (stopped by tearing lose the taser's conductive line) and then further limit the attack by -1/4 or -1/2 if it does no damage unless multiple taser lines are attached. The value of the limitation depends on the number of attackers and their chances of actually hitting; it would go as low as -0 if there are many of them and they're highly accurate, -1/2 or higher for very few with relatively low OCV. I'm not sure if I'd want an NND or just a straight energy attack. NND is probably cheaper for the same level of effectiveness.

I believe it's typically a brick with STR about 2-4 DCs below campaign limits (like a pocket battleship), but occasionally applied to a brick with shrinking.

I don't have it in front of me, but the totals should seem very high since Automatons who take no STUN pay huge amounts for PD and ED (which I thought made that PD and ED resistant, but maybe no more).

If I might throw in a contentious example... The Jericho Effect A superpowered being takes control of another individual's body and uses it as his own. If the body is attacked physically, it takes the abuse (leaving the owner battered when the possessor leaves), but mental attacks hit the possessor. There have been lots of different ways to build this. One way is as a very large mind control, with some associated powers to cover extra effects. Seems reasonable; it closely follows the Mind Control concept of "making someone do what I want". The extra powers bit can be contentious. If the possessor becomes desolid, invisible, and clings to the target, then he pays a great number of points to have Mind Control affect the physical world, plus lots of points for the extras. If the possessor uses extra dimensional movement to another dimension, he pays extra points for transdimensional mind control and plus points for extra dimensional movement and the transdimensional clairsentience to perceive the world through the possessed body's senses. Clearly, the first is the most expensive. But does that make it the right answer ? I'm inclined to say No. Even the second seems to cost far too much, because this Jericho Effect does not seem inherently more valuable than Mind Control. The mind controller becomes safe from physical assault, but loses the ability to control multiple targets, and loses the advantages of having two bodies (such as fleeing during the mayhem, or using his own phases to support his mind control victim, etc.). I'm leaning strongly towards the interpretation that this is just Mind Control with unusual side effects (mentalist's body disappears while target is controlled; mentalist not target is affected by mental attacks on target's body while controlled; mentalist's body reappears when breakout occurs; mentalist may cause breakout at any time).

I believe the latest Digital Hero has an incredibly over the top, too expensive to use, version of this. The next Digital Hero may have a more usable version, as might the UNTIL Superpowers Database. Also, look at Dave Mattingly's Power Points articles on the web for Time powers. Nice stuff there.

I've read SAS Tri-Stat but haven't yet read more than a couple of chapters out of M&M. So far, I'd say SAS Tri-Stat is going to feel closer to Hero than M&M, and does a better job of introducing their system to an absolute beginner; M&M feels like you're really expected to have read the D20 Player's Handbook before hand (not an unreasonable assumption, but I haven't). SAS Tri-Stat has a bit of a lead product support, too. The roster book is a smallish pamphlet, with a character sheet and a description for each character which is brief, falling somewhere between Enemies and Classic Enemies in length. SAS seems easy to convert to Hero. I tried to convert some characters in Tri-Stat to Hero, while Morningstar (IIRC) went D20 to Hero. They came out recognizably similar, differing only in a skill or two and a point or three of one characteristic or another. If you've got five bucks to burn, look for Inquest #96 (8th Anniversary Special) with the 70 page Marvel Universe RPG intro in it. It's lengthy enough to give you a feel for that game, and probably save you from buying the rules for it when they debut in May.

Probably a redundant response, but the adventure supplements for WOTC's Marvel Superheroes Adventure game had a fair number of short story hooks and were very light on rules and game mechanics (since the system as a whole was light on rules and game mechanics). The forthcoming Marvel Universe RPG will, from all indications, be even more fluid with regard to details like time, distance, velocity, etc. A more expensive option is to look at games like Brave New World, Adventure, Godlike or Aberrant as non-four colour settings for dimensional travel stories. The rulebooks lay out enough setting information to trigger some story ideas, and since you're only visiting, you can involve your characters in some of the biggest crises and events that universe has to offer.

COIL - varies; sometimes not an acronym; usually the criminal organization/cult headed by King Cobra which has a snake motif ICE - in real life, Iron Crown Enterprises, who published many Hero Games products in the past; in the 4th edition Champions Universe, I believe ICE was an assassination consortium PRIMUS - A US government federal law enforcement agency with a super-crime beat, featuring agents ranging from investigators, to superagents, to power armoured agents, to low/average superhero power levels. UNTIL - A United Nations international law enforcement agency with a super-crime beat, featuring agents ranging from investigators to superagents (United Nations Tribunal on International Law ?) VIPER - Not an acronym (or sometimes an acronym); premiere high-tech criminal conspiracy in the Champions Universe, with superagents, a braod selection of cutting edge weapons, vehicles and robots, super powered special agents, and an equally broad and impressive array of conventional weapons and resources. VOICE - Possibly not an acronym; a subtler and more insidious force than VIPER, with deadlier superpowered agents and goals focusing as much on destabilizing and confusing their enemies as actively accumulating more power.

So the true form is an intangible invisible spirit, but he multiforms into an earth elemental-style brick from time to time ? On the one hand, it lets the character Accidental Change to a spirit when the elemental body is destroyed. That's nice. On the other hand, I'd be tempted to just make him buy the earth elemental brick form and sufficient mega scale teleport and self-healing to reflect leaping from a damaged body to a new, fresh body. Ask the character how he intends to divide his time. If he only wants to be a 'spirit' for travel and after his body is destroyed, I might allow it. If I thought he wanted to be a ghost-like spy, I'd probably not allow it.

The good and bad news... I think a set of powers similar to that (material mimickry) is described in the forthcoming UNTIL Superpowers Database. But it's still in playtest, so it won't be distributed for several weeks. IIRC, a VPP or MP of abilities you would take from materials is pretty much how it's written up.

There's lots of little things about the system I'd consider changing. Being invulnerable to a single SFX is a power I would include, but I'd do it in a fairly straightforward way. I'd have to juggle the possibilities but they'd be something like: - 100% resistant DR only vs. a single SFX for 60 points - Desolidification, only to protect against attacks with a single SFX, and clarify that i) the attacks do not pass through the character, simply do not affect him, ii) this power does not necessitate buying Affects Physical World, and iii) Affects Desolid does not make an attack of that SFX effective against the character. Other things I'd think about changing: - Make the 'barrier penetration' aspect of Desolidification separate from the damage avoidance aspect of Desolidification - I'd have to think long and hard about whether or not Spirit or Possession powers are needed - I'd want to review the structure of mental powers. The effectiveness of a high EGO as a defence against Mental Illusions, Mind Control, Mind Scan and Telepathy is very impressive, while that high EGO does very little against Ego Attack - I'd look at whether or not players really need to be prevented from having automaton powers

I must admit, Enemies Assemble was one that felt like 90% chaff. I did like seeing the big energy guy from the Ultimates remember his mission after a typically bizarre run in with Foxbat. I got some use out of Enemies for Hire. Many of the characters had fairly limited schticks, several of them at least served a Gilt Complex function (the players see them use one good ability, assume an equally well-rounded character design, and then are shocked by how one-dimensional the villains prove to be). Call it 60-70% chaff.

It's hard to pick the worst. So many supplements had glaring flaws, but only a few were irredeemable. Scourge from the Deep certainly never made me want to actually run the adventure (nice Tom Lyle cover, though). Ditto for the Invaders from Below, Olympians (nice George Perez cover, though), Road Kill, and Demons Rule (though it's the most salvageable of the bunch). European Enemies had a few interesting concepts, but really few for the size and possible scope of the book (reasonable Jackson Guice cover ruined by the colorist). Mutant File was disappointingly out of scope for my campaigns at that time; the point tallies just were out of reach (nice Storn cover, but the interior art was uninspiring). High tech Enemies had similar power level issues, but the cover didn't grab me the same way. Most of these supplements had classic ideas and themes that failed in the details and I never was willing to work to recover them. By comparison VOICE of Doom (villains too powerful), Target: Hero (incomplete character sheets), Atlas Unleashed (lame supervillains) and some others definitely are ones I want to run (and run again for other players) despite their flaws.

We won't know until the VIPER book comes out, but I expect to see King Cobra take on a similar role as in the New Millennium. A member of VIPER who once rose up to the position of Supreme Serpent, but has since been deposed and is believed dead. I liked it for a couple of reasons. Having VIPER and COIL both have serpentine/reptilian mutated supervillains was redundant. If there were too many omega level masterminds and threats in 4th edition, there were also too many snake motif villains. By making King Cobra a (former) leader of VIPER, you keep just one source for all those snakes. By having him deposed and believed dead, individuals can still resurrect him to strike again.

Just to save some bookkeeping JmOz, I think you're already to the point where you can say any BODY taken by your missile while in flight will cause said explosion AND completely destroy the missile. In short, we know the missile will be destroyed.

I think Ultimate Mentalist caused memory loss through Transform and Dispel. The Transform you've got seems like it will do the job, so I'd go with it. I'd also give it limited class of target (people, or people with whom the character has interacted) to further reduce the cost. I'd try to make this cost the player relatively few points because it hinders so much more frequently than it helps. If the GM's comfortable with it, it might just work best as a physical limitation.

This seat was to protect the vehicle's occupant from crash damage. He would be frozen in a bubble of stopped time, and be invulnerable to any and all effects until the bubble 'popped'. The writeup was unclear on whether the bubble could have a timer set or had to be 'popped' by an outside party recovering the seat from the wreckage post-crash. I assumed the latter in my writeup. I'm thinking it should be: Stasis seat: Extra-dimensional movement (20 points), to any place or time in the future (wherever and whenever the stasis is deactivated) (+5 for any location, +26 for any point in the next Billion years), (51 active points), NCC over result (-1; driver can activate power, with no control over the 'destination'/place and time of deactivation), OIF Bulky (-1) (total cost: 17 points)

You mean what SFX justify such a side effect ? A big ole fuel tank on a flamethrower might do it. I think Blowtorch took a susceptibility to taking BODY to his fuel tank. A complex energy field/energy gate might do it. If the character needs to carefully open a gate or energy field to cause an effect, and is disturbed, that might apply. For example, Firestorm the Nuclear Man could create a small fission or fusion reaction in the palm of his hand and shut it down before it did much more than an EMP. If he got smacked while doing so, I could easily justify a no range RKA explosion with no personal immunity. As to the commonality of such an event (taking BODY while using a power), it depends on your defences compared to the campaign's average attack, your DCV, how frequently the power is used, and whether the power is constant or continuing or instant.

My scariest newbie: Teleportation and time travel powers, usable at range against others, through an Independent focus. Balanced by no less than three Hunteds, each More Powerful, 11-, Kill. Not at all popular with his teammates or enemies.