Tom McCarthy

In terms of game mechanics, it might be easiest to do multiform (one form desolid, the other solid in the suit). Use accidental change to go from one to the other when the suit fails. Out of the suit, Desolidification 0 END peristent Inherent Always On, and not much else. In the suit, take your usual powers, and depending on the breakability of the suit and your character's reliance, apply a focus limitation. Alternatively, make it a physical limitation (After taking X BODY, becomes insubstantial and can't affect real world, low frequency, fully impairing).

Although I use the bell curved multipliers from the hit location chart, I've been tempted to go with a multiplier of 2 whenever no BODY damage is done. That means the STUN is lower than a normal attack of equivalent DCs if no BODY gets through, on average. Of course, KAs being what they are, extremes are still more likely. 2.5 might work, too. It gives roughly equivalent STUN to a comparable normal attack, but again extremes will occur more frequently.

Just a riff on the title The thread title reminded me of Monte Cook's editorial on the Temple of Elemental Evil. He said the PC was a bad GM, but that put it ahead of all the previous games which didn't feel like they had a GM at all. Too powerful NPCs. NPCs who took first choice from the treasure. Forgetting and being stuck in a particular spellcasting mode. Stupid mistakes that can arise from bad GMing or miscommunication with players.

So which products had Divis Mal and Cestus Pax in them ?

From Champions, even So the heroes have been lured to a trap set by the Black Harlequin (yes, from Champions Battlegrounds). They haven't faced the Harlequin before, so they're not 100% sure of his MO. Some of the traps have had holographic lures, others real people. A woman hangs over a train track. A killer teddy bear with a knife is sawing at the ropes to drop her to her death. 6 more toys are swarming towards her. Snake, the martial artist, begins battering and breaking toys, but asks, "Do they feel mechanical, or are there, like, little men inside ?". Reassured that they seem robotic, he smashes all of them (aided by the delaying tactics of Dark Matter Lad, master of force walls). But the woman falls onto the tracks, and a train approaches. Snake leaps over, scoops her up, and leaps to safety (anime superleaping). And Dark Matter Lad asks, "Does she feel mechanical, or is there a little man inside her ?"

Just to muddy the waters, I think Batman pretty much always is portrayed as having that extra phase and the right thing ready; he's really a good 1 or 2 points of SPD higher than any of the other heroes. Superman, Flash, and Martian Manhunter all have superspeed. But in terms of what they achieve with that power, they really only show off high movement, mega scale movement, autofire or area effect attacks against multiple targets, ridiculous levels with Sweep, or some obscure trick (find the answer in the library in 0.001 s - Deduction or Detect or KS: Everything; evacuate the area before the bomb hits - Teleport, usable as attack, AE selective; etc.). In many ways, they have the same SPD as characters like Aquaman, Plastic Man or Huntress, but have superspeed tricks to affect multiple targets or large areas. In Champions, this makes simulating that variety of effects potentially expensive or abusive.

I'm inclined to ask for writeups of the lieutenants of Kal-Turak and the magic items he created to strengthen and individualize them (maybe an stone crown, or an iron crown, etc.). Or were those devices made for enemies of his, and brought them under his sway (that's probably too Tolkein) ? A writeup of a few Maguffins might be nice; a relic or two specific to the setting. Of course, a famous religious relic reputed to have incredible power but is actually poorly constructed and nigh-unusable might be nice, too. What title or greeting is appropriate when members of two factions meet on the road ? Which churches see each other as natural allies ? Which are allied or feuding despite their god's wishes ?

Ever loving blue-eyed Tom McCarthy. Who'd have thunk it.

That 0 ratio was bugging me. On a second run it broke down as: 0:2 2 0:3 3 0:4 14 0:5 12 0:6 24 0:7 12 0:8 15 0:9 2 0:10 2 Obviously, 0:10 is an extremely bad case for SPD 4.

I'm not a whiz, but I can fake it You pose an interesting question, so I quickly had my computer run 12000 turns of cambat, and note how many phases the SPD 8 speedster got over the SPD 4 brick. It looked like this... 0 extra phases 92 (0f 12000, less than 1%) 1 557 2 1523 3 2588 4 2862 (shockingly low ?) 5 2330 6 1246 7 582 8 190 9 27 10 1 11 2 Then I tried to slice it mathematically/analytically, where I'd expect: 0 92.5/12000 1 555/12000 2 1526/12000 3 2543/12000 4 2861/12000 (less than 24%) 5 2289/12000 6 1335/12000 7 572/12000 8 179/12000 9 40/12000 10 6/12000 11 .5/12000 12 .02/12000 So, nearly 40% of the time, SPD 8 doesn't get 4 more phases than SPD 4. 24% of the time he does. About 36% of the time, he gets more than 4 extra phases. But, holding phases is a questionable tactic, since a held phase can be suddenly lost at any time. By the way, I did it again for SPD 3 agents against SPD 6 martial artists, and got: 0 409 of 12000 1 1540 2 2732 3 3192 4 2293 5 1176 6 472 7 148 8 33 9 5 so, just more than 1/4 of the time do the phases stack up right by difference. And for the stat geeks, by ratio, SPD 4 and 8, Extremes, and expected 0:1 (SPD 4 got no actions, SPD 8 got unknown number; worst case for SPD 4) 95 of 12000 1:1 (SPD 4 and 8 got same number; best case for SPD 4) 96 1:2 1665 (expected ratio only occurs 14%) Better for SPD 4 10:11 2 9:10 15 8:9 36 7:8 75 6:7 129 5:6 117 9:11 8 4:5 159 7:9 174 3:4 409 8:11 47 5:7 368 7:10 170 2:3 797 7:11 78 5:8 631 3:5 467 7:12 15 4:7 642 5:9 620 6:11 123 Worse for SPD 4 5:11 120 4:9 620 3:7 608 5:12 8 2:5 534 3:8 629 4:11 74 1:3 753 3:10 180 2:7 353 3:11 56 1:4 393 2:9 169 1:5 153 2:11 14 1:6 127 1:7 123 1:8 76 1:9 55 1:10 12 1:11 5

... I've been reading Shields of Justice, Criminal Intent and Matthews GenTech, for Silver Age Sentinels. There's quite a bit of good, generic superhero stuff in there. For an enterprising GM, there's some decent tactical thinking in GenTech on what kind of villain powers will challenge heroes. Criminal Intent has good tips on memorable and successful villains. Shields of Justice is on heroes and heroic motivations.

Extra time to change slots is a funny case... Extra time to change slots in a multipower has a quirk in the math; the limitation should be applied to the slots but not the reserve. Specifically, applying it to the reserve can make the multipower as a whole cheaper than having just one of the powers. In a simple example, consider an extra phase to switch slots as -1/4, and look at the following: 48 Multipower, 60 points, extra phase to switch slots (-1/4) 5u 4D6 HKA 5u 20" Flight, x8 NCM It's only 58 points. Compared to just buying the HKA alone, you've gained access to flight and saved 2 points. Definitely a violation of "get what you pay for".

Well, here's a simplistic cut at it for cost comparison. An OIF ring giving a 120 point multipower with 13 slots: 80 for the reserve 104 for the slots (40 STR TK, 12D6 EB, 8D6 EB Indirect, 8D6 Autofire, 4D6 DEF 8 Entangle, 4D6 RKA, 1D6 Continuous NND BODY RKA, Missile deflection at range, 3 kinds of forcefield, 10/10 forcewall, 20" flight at 0 END) so 184 points for the multipower. For free, the object gets (effectively) 1 BODY and 27 DEF. For the same cost, you could have a 920 point vehicle ? As a vehicle, we'd give it STR 0, INT 0, BODY 1, Size 1 (buy some shrinking ?), DEF 27, DEX 30 (minimum) and SPD 6 (minimum), but 0" of running. That's 114 points. Give it the multipower above without OIF (274 points), and we're looking at 388 before disads. Still plenty of room to make this bad boy more powerful...

Alas, I have not yet (and may never) enjoy the payoff when the players recognize (strikes dramatic Kirby pose) "The Cannoneer". But yes, if and when it happens, it should be priceless.

Unknown Eagles was a Hero Plus (PDF) product for heroic WWII adventures.

Redeemed by my heroic striving In my campaign, Foxbat fixated on the hero who thwarted him and was considering reforming to be his heroic sidekick when the hero died (well, seriously comatose and given over to "top men", anyway). It's surprisingly easy to sneak him onto a hero team, especially if the timings right (like a player guest-GMing a story arc). A quick name change, costume change, and a heroic introduction (say, foiling a bank robbery), and he's in like Flynn. He's goofy, fun, more than capable of handling himself, doesn't step on any toes (not the best MA, not the best EP, not the fastest flier, etc.).

If you've got the UNTIL Superpowers DB, lookup the sample character from 'Darren' in the back of the book with Emerald in his name. Or perhaps Meteorman from Chmapions Universe.

Steve Long spent one or two Digital Hero columns building such a power. It was an exercise in high point totals; it's just too expensive to have that level of cosmic power for a typical PC.

A teenager develops the mutant power to animate comic book images and he sics the Champions (minus Nighthawk plus Seeker) on the heroes. Broadly drop hints in the aftermath that Seeker will be hanging around with the PC team, getting beat up on each adventure.

A shopping trip through the Mall from Champions Battlegrounds (just shopping). Trash Titanothere. Heck, pick five tough 250 pt bricks and have them stage a bank robbery or a hostage situation/kidnapping of the local NFL team. Watch your 350 point characters maul them. Bulldozer shows up outside the base and challenges them. Lay a 'long lead in' subplot in motion. Classic published examples come from Dystopia, Shadows of the City, or the Great Supervillain Contest. The latter is the easiest to setup by far. You could even kickoff Shades of Black by making sure the players have met Black Paladin and Talisman. Run the modern day sample scenario from Horror Hero. The villains are no match for the heroes, but the mystery is interesting enough.

Lethality I probably don't have to remind the 'old hands' about this, but Shades of Black is significantly more dangerous to PCs than the typical adventure in my campaign. There's enough penetrating HKAs and RKAs to nickel and dime and put pressure on heroes, but throw in a big HKA from the Paladin or one of the new villains (one of them has a big HKA, at least by my standards) and some heroes will definitely be in danger of death. I'm just in the middle of Champions Battlegrounds right now and the robot knights dealt a great deal of damage to my heroes because I neglected to tone them down sufficiently.

Actually, I think all you need are more authors to give more variety to Champions products. In Classic Enemies, the Conquerors definitely came from a campaign with different assumptions than Eurostar. The Conquerors tended to relatively low DEX, OCV levels, and DCs that outstripped defences. Quite different from the typical Champions campaign of the day. Certainly, Sean Fannon was playing on a very different playing field than Charles Brown.

I'd give him an HKA with OIF object of opportunity limitation, and HKA limited by size of object. To destroy power armour, how about a largeish dispel vs. all powers with a technological SFX (no range) ? Arguably, you could buy it against any one power of technological SFX, then strip away the power armour segment by segment.

Crosspost I look to the JLA, JSA, LSH, Avengers, and the like for plotlines. 1) Time travel / save the timeline. Typically includes a time travelling villain or extradimensional conqueror (then its save reality). 2) Invasion / conquest. Typically aliens or alien empires, but may include extra-dimensional entities or a country capable of fielding super-powered troops or a comparable powered team. 3) The threat from beyond. This means a magical threat against a team with no mage, or an alien threat against a team with no easy space travel. 4) The enemy is us. A schism in the team (mind control, disguise and infiltration, madness, philosophical differences, evil doppelgangers, betrayal) pits one player against another. 5) Nemeses. The team of opposite numbers; whether evil duplicates from another dimension, or just a villain with the same/mirror origin as the hero. 6) The threat you can't punch. Occasionally a child or the like, but more often political harassment or media manipulation. 7) Flex your muscles. Gladiatorial combat against the galaxy's best. We're talking widescreen action, so: - Gods and god-like threats (Galactus, Watcher, New Gods, Crisis on Infinite Earths) - Interstellar empires (Shi-ar empire threatened by Dark Phoenix, Kree-Skrull war) - The android or alien with all the powers of all the heroes (Amazo, Adaptoid, Super-Skrull) - Carnage on an unbelievable scale (Kaizen Gamora's army of super-powered shock troops on terror missions, nuclear missiles launched and must be stopped, Atlantis or aliens march on New York, rampaging Hulk) - Histories being shaped by their actions (generational heroes that inspired them or inspired by them, sidekicks actually granted powers by them or enemies empowered by their enemies (think Loki creating Absorbing Man)) - Optionally, the team is feared by the powers that be (Authority being attacked covertly by Big Industry, governments, etc., X-men seen as public enemy, stalked by Sentinels) A neat trick: Players design two characters each and give them to the GM. He hands back half of them, and says, "Pick your character. I'll use the others as villains." ========================================================= I haven't run a really high-ended campaign, but I'm getting there (through generous XP). Some issues: - the players really do win frequently or always in combat - the PCs should be downright famous; secret ID may be hard to roleplay and positive reputation's almost required - the GM better be good at running some large combats, because anytime agents and the like come into play, they'll be so thick on the ground you can't miss - GMs similarly need to be able to run environmental disaster / civilian rescue quickly and cleanly. Individual forest fires will be no problem for these heroes, but the rescue effort is mindboggling when a second moon appears in orbit, or a spaceship crash lands and skids the length of California, or Atlantis or Thule rises from the ocean - can PCs hurt spaceships or walk on stars ? For most of us, a Galactic Champion gutting a spaceship should be in genre. Spaceships in TE and STK are tough and need huge numbers of DCs to hurt.

I look to the JLA, JSA, LSH, Avengers, and the like for plotlines. 1) Time travel / save the timeline. Typically includes a time travelling villain or extradimensional conqueror (then its save reality). 2) Invasion / conquest. Typically aliens or alien empires, but may include extra-dimensional entities or a country capable of fielding super-powered troops or a comparable powered team. 3) The threat from beyond. This means a magical threat against a team with no mage, or an alien threat against a team with no easy space travel. 4) The enemy is us. A schism in the team (mind control, disguise and infiltration, madness, philosophical differences, evil doppelgangers, betrayal) pits one player against another. 5) Nemeses. The team of opposite numbers; whether evil duplicates from another dimension, or just a villain with the same/mirror origin as the hero. 6) The threat you can't punch. Occasionally a child or the like, but more often political harassment or media manipulation. 7) Flex your muscles. Gladiatorial combat against the galaxy's best. We're talking widescreen action, so: - Gods and god-like threats (Galactus, Watcher, New Gods, Crisis on Infinite Earths) - Interstellar empires (Shi-ar empire threatened by Dark Phoenix, Kree-Skrull war) - The android or alien with all the powers of all the heroes (Amazo, Adaptoid, Super-Skrull) - Carnage on an unbelievable scale (Kaizen Gamora's army of super-powered shock troops on terror missions, nuclear missiles launched and must be stopped, Atlantis or aliens march on New York, rampaging Hulk) - Histories being shaped by their actions (generational heroes that inspired them or inspired by them, sidekicks actually granted powers by them or enemies empowered by their enemies (think Loki creating Absorbing Man)) - Optionally, the team is feared by the powers that be (Authority being attacked covertly by Big Industry, governments, etc., X-men seen as public enemy, stalked by Sentinels) A neat trick: Players design two characters each and give them to the GM. He hands back half of them, and says, "Pick your character. I'll use the others as villains."