KA.

Re: Reflective Hero: Help me please Well, this one is a little puzzling in some aspects, but should be doable. 1) For anything Ranged, you just buy Missle Deflection (Reflection) at the proper level, along with some OCV levels to make sure you don't miss. The normal way for this to work is instantly, but if you really insist, there is "Extra Time" as a Limitation. 2) The hand to hand stuff is a bit trickier. The main things you are trying to accomplish are: a) Damage Coming in does not harm you Damage gets sent back to the original person who attacked you. This can be done a variety of ways. It mostly boils down to using two different powers to create one effect. a) Armor, Force Field, whatever, to keep incoming damage from hurting you. Some type of attack power EB (no range) Physical, EB (no range) Energy, built as a Damage Shield, or with Trigger, to do damage to your attacker. Just buy enough to emulate whatever attack hit you. KA.

First, Thanks to everyone for all the help. Based on suggestions, and my own conclusions, I have added an extemely basic "Martial Arts" set to this Package. It only contains: Martial Block, Basic Strike, and Martial Strike. To me, this is enough to represent a competent hand to hand fighter, with a bit of "boxing" in his background, without stepping on the toes of "real boxers" or "Martial Artists" Those two character types would add maneuvers, and/or Damage Classes, to represent much greater skill. (For one thing, the Martial Throw seems like it would be taboo for anyone other than a "Martial Artist", or perhaps someone with extensive "Commando" training.) The maneuvers I have included only add +2d6 of damage, so they should be "effective" without being "devastating" to a normal thug. Here is the latest version: Four Color Package Deal Cost Martial Arts Maneuver 4 Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort 3 Cross: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +0 DCV, STR +2d6 Strike 4 Jab: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, STR +2d6 Strike Martial Arts Cost: 11 Cost Skill 3 Oratory 11- 5 +3 PSL vs. OCV modifier on Pulling Your Punch Skills Cost: 8 Cost Talent 6 Simulate Death (No One Could Have Survived That!) (+3 to roll) Talents Cost: 6 Total Character Cost: 25 Val Disadvantages 15 Code Against Killing: (Common; Strong) 15 Code of Honor: (Common; Strong) 20 Dependent NPC: 8- (Incompetent; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID) 10 Secret ID: (Frequently; Minor) Disadvantage Points: 60 Total Package Cost: -35 Comments? Suggestions? KA.

Don't read it! It's a combination of the Necronomicon and the video from The Ring. Run! KA.

Then Derek is spot on. Buying off the "Always On" with a Focus, allows for someone destroying the Focus as a plot element. "Oh No! There's a hole in the containment suit!" Should work just like Derek said. KA.

Okay, cool. Like I said, I haven't really read the Star Hero books, even though I own them, so I didn't know how this worked. Thanks, Aroooo!

I wouldn't see anything wrong with some kind of basic "boxing" package for Golden Age Superheroes. Of course, you already have the basic moves that everyone has. I will take a look. KA.

Just thought of this and wondered what other people thought. In Star Trek TOS it was quite common for one crewman to be monitoring the "sensors". When some kind of threat appeared, someone else, usually Spock, would "take over" and "see" things that the other crewman was not able to "see". So, how do you build this? Should Sensors be something like: UV Perception: Only Useable by Others, OAF Bulky (Sensor Array) And each character using the Sensors must make his own PER roll when he uses them? This would make sense in the situation above, since the person with the higher INT (Spock) is the one who can "see" more. Also, the "more experienced" person (Spock, Scotty) would often fiddle around with some controls and then see something. Would you build this by having something like: +3 to PER Roll (Requires Systems Operation roll) to simulate being able to "tune in" the sensors to get a "better picture"? Is this all standard stuff and everyone does it this way? I usually always play Champions, so this type of thing doesn't come up, but I just started thinking about it. Am I the slow kid in class, waving my hand to ask about Multiplication, when everyone else is doing Pre-Calc? KA.

Trebuchet, Thanks for the kind words. PhilFleischmann, I totally agree with your points about teamwork and motivation. It sounds like these players have seen too many episodes of SuperFriends! They just wait around for the Troubalert to go off and tell them what to do. KA.

Well, Champsguy, I am disappointed to see you turning a blind eye to this. I suppose that this means you deny the Superior Intellectual Prowess of Ralph Dibny and Eel O'Brian! Just kidding. KA.

I think my problem with it is the obvious disconnect between parts of the "same" world. In DC, there are differences between Gotham City and Metropolis, but those are different cities. What Marvel does with the mutant issue is the equivalent of you taking a drive around the block, going down a sidestreet, and discovering a Beirut Class War Zone. Checkpoints, Machine Guns, people tossing Molotov cocktails, the whole bit. When you ask one of the guards when this happened, they tell you: "Oh, about 20 years ago. I guess you just never noticed it." I mean standard Superheroes and Mutants do interact from time to time. Don't you think by now that Captain America would have made a PSA about "Mutant Prejudice"? Wouldn't the Fantastic Four (especially The Thing) have spoken out about attacking those who are "different"? Wouldn't respected Heroes from other "minorities" have launched major protests about the treatment of Mutants? (I don't claim to have bought anything from Marvel in the last several years, so some of this stuff could have happened without changing anything.) It just seems like an overdone plot device used to inject a crapload of "angst" into certain titles. I don't have any problem with comics tackling issues like prejudice, but Marvel seems to be taking the "MTV approach" by creating a view so slanted that you can't learn anything from it. The equivalent would be if a program like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, had an episode where they went to the South, and there were herds of Klansmen, dressed in white, riding horses, rolling across the plains like a stampede of White Buffalo. Not to say that there is no racism, (I was born in the South), but exaggerating it to that degree makes it impossible to identify with, or relate to. KA.

Doug McCrae: This looks like it has been covered pretty well. But I do have a few suggestions: 1) I would not have the "visible" guards carrying too much exotic weaponry. These days, with satelites, etc. Nowhere is all that "remote" and someone might wonder about the base in the middle of nowhere, with the guards outside that carry very expensive weapons. There is a line in Die Hard II, that goes: "That punk pulled a Glock 7 on me! You know what that is? It's a porcelain gun made in Germany. It doesn’t show up on your airport X-ray machines, and it cost more than you make here in a month." It seems like the outer guards should just look like your normal "Drug Cartel" goons. 2) For the same reason, it would make sense to have the above ground building easy to get into, but not easy to destroy (normal windows and door, reinforced walls). That way, once the attackers are away from "prying eyes" you can open up on them with whatever you want. 3) The fight with the one set of experimental battle armor, sounds like a great opportunity to create a "Half-Jack" type nemesis for your group. All you need is a little overkill on a player's part, or a particularly "lucky" shot, to have the operator of the suit "die" while operating it. Only to be reborn as a: "Scarred Twisted Freak, who can no longer live without the suit's Life Support, but who is one tough S.O.B. while inside it." I love this kind of stuff. Having a character that has an actual grudge against your team, especially one that conjures up some guilt on their part, is a great chance for roleplaying on both sides. KA.

How about: The Select. KA.

I'm sorry, but this whole idea, as Marvel presents it, is just cracked! I am not saying that if there were suddenly Mutants, and only Mutants in the world, that some people would not be prejudiced toward them. But in a world full of people, with all kinds of strange powers, some Mutant, and some not, how the crap would the average Joe know who to hate? But Marvel would have us believe that the following situation occurs: Bubba is loading up his gun rack with 12 gauge shotguns. Burford comes along: "Hey, Bubba, watchadoin'?" Bubba: "I'm gonna go kill that Mutie that moved in a couple a' blocks down Willow St.!" Burford: "You mean the guy that shoots flame out of his ears?" Bubba: "Yup!" Burford: "Well, Shucks, Bubba. He ain't no mutant. He was involved in an ex-plosion at that there ree-serch la-bor-a-toree!" Bubba: "Oh. Well that's okay then. Let's go see if he wants to come out to Hooters with us." KA.

Okay, here is the latest version: Four Color Package Deal Cost Martial Arts Maneuver 4 Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort 3 Cross: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +0 DCV, 4d6 Strike 4 Jab: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 4d6 Strike Martial Arts Cost: 11 Cost Skill 3 Oratory 11- 5 +3 PSL vs. OCV modifier on Pulling Your Punch Skills Cost: 8 Cost Talent 6 Simulate Death (No One Could Have Survived That!) (+3 to roll) Talents Cost: 6 Total Character Cost: 25 Pts. Disadvantage 15 Code Against Killing: (Common, Strong) 15 Code of Honor: (Common, Strong) 20 Dependent NPC: 8- (Incompetent; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID) 10 Secret ID: (Frequently, Minor) Disadvantage Points: 60 This is looking good so far, but please feel free to contribute. Also, if anyone has suggestions for other package deals (Iron Age, Silver Age, etc.) please post those too. Thanks, KA.

Crimson Arrow, I think this would fall under either "Code of Honor" or some, general Psych Lim like "Fights Fair". Back then, it wasn't considered "sporting" for someone with enhanced Characteristics, AND Superpowers, to use their powers on an Unarmed Normal (or a normal whose weapon could not possibly hurt the Hero). Now days, you can Laser Blast the head off a Normal with a .32 pistol, that couldn't hurt you if you stuck it up your nose and inhaled when you pulled the trigger. But back then, that wasn't considered proper. If you outclasssed someone, you were expected to take them out "man-to-man". That may also explain why thugs didn't try to empty a revolver into the eye of a downed Hero. Both sides had, at least a grudging, respect for each other. Thank goodness we got rid of all that stupid stuff and made comics into snuff films. Sorry for the rant, just woke up. Good suggestion, and I will either fit it into the Package with a Psych Lim, or make a more thorough explanation of "Code of Honor" when this gets written up. Thanks, KA.

Okay, it's in! I will enter it after I sleep for a while. If anyone has any suggestions on exactly how many, just post something specific and I will put it in, otherwise I will figure it out when I wake up. KA.

I agree with the Oratory. Back then every character could reel off a good speech, or at least people reacted that way, no matter what they said! Here is the latest version: Four Color Package Deal Cost Martial Arts Maneuver 4 Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort 3 Cross: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +0 DCV, 4d6 Strike 4 Jab: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 4d6 Strike Martial Arts Cost: 11 Cost Skill 3 Oratory 11- 5 +3 PSL vs. OCV modifier on Pulling Your Punch Skills Cost: 8 Cost Talent 6 Simulate Death (No One Could Have Survived That!) (+3 to roll) Talents Cost: 6 Total Character Cost: 25 Pts. Disadvantage 15 Code Against Killing: (Common, Strong) 15 Code of Honor: (Common, Strong) 20 Dependent NPC: 8- (Incompetent; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID) 10 Secret ID: (Frequently, Minor) Disadvantage Points: 60 KA.

Back on the original topic, "Did anyone ever play a character like this?" I did! Sort of. (Pardon my lengthy post about my beloved character.) Rex Random, the most ordinary, meticulous, unexciting guy in the world, works in a lab. His job is diagnostic testing, because he loves performing the same tests, over and over, and then comparing the results. The Government captures a shapechanging alien. They need to run some tests immediately, and Rex is the only one who knows how to operate the experimental bioscanner. Due to an incredible series of coincidences, a huge power surge is sent through the scanner, just as the alien is strapped down, bathing Rex in a blast of unknown energies. Rex is transformed into: Captain Chaotic! Captain Chaotic has some enhanced Characteristics, and a big Multipower. Every Turn a power is picked from the Multipower by the Random roll of a die, and that is the power he has for that Turn. And, the list of powers was chosen at Random! He could have a bunch of Flight, or Armor, or Regeneration, Telekineses, Teleportation, all kinds of stuff. He never knows what until "Post Segment 12", and he just has to figure out how to work with whatever power he ends up with to get the job done. Really fun to play. He even has a battlecry:"Random Powers On!"

Exactly Right Supreme Serpent! I didn't realize that I had lost something in translation from Hero Designer. The "display" value for this was: "No One could have survived that!" And it was meant to simulate exactly the sort of thing that S.S. indicated. This is such a standard of Four Color that I felt it was needed. Villains never put another round in the head, check carefully for vital signs, etc. etc., they just always assume that the Hero is dead. And, Heroes always come back. KA.

Interesting Idea. I'll see what everyone else thinks before I add it, though. KA.

Re: Re: Superhero Package Deals, by Genre: Four Color Quite right, it will be added. KA.

Okay, I have to weigh in on this. If your players can only be motivated by the threat of their own death, something is seriously wrong, and they do not understand the genre. A hero's greatest fear should never be his own death, it should be failure. I don't mean failure to curb-stomp every mook they meet, I mean failure to protect the innocent. If they rush in headlong and Dr. Destroyer KO's them, they shouldn't be worried about what is going to happen to them, it should be what is he going to do to innocent people while they are unconscious!. If all a person worried about was his personal safety, they would never become a hero, they would just stay home. Don't motivate your heroes by threatening them with death. Have them "get to know" some DNPC's. Make them care about them, and by extension, the community they protect. Then when they don't pay attention, and don't care what happens, have the innocent affected by their slack attitude. You don't have to kill them off either. Have it happen in subtle ways: Mom 'n Pop's Grocery gets burned down by a stray blast from a DEMON Morbane, that no one was keeping an eye on. Every time they go past the location, have them see Pop in there, working like a dog to rebuild it. Have a Mission that helped the homeless forced to close because of damage. Now have the players have to deal with a lot of petty crime committed by homeless people just looking for food and a place to sleep. Or have the homeless kidnapped and experimented on by some villain, because they lost the safety of the shelter. Others can give you more suggestions, but you get the idea. Have their actions, or lack of them, matter in the game world. Don't crucify them for every little mistake, but make them pay for a total lack of care. KA.

Okay, I got this idea from a post I made to another thread: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=247767#post247767 Often, when a GM asks his players to create characters for a new campaign, they have to go through endless revisions to get the right "feel". This problem can come from misunderstandings as to the "Age" or genre of the campaign. So, I had an idea. A "Package Deal" for each Genre! Before I hear too much moaning about "railroading" or "not letting the players follow their concept", I am not actually advocating that GM's force these package deals on their players. What I am looking for are sets of Disadvantages, Skill, Perks, etc. that would make good guidelines for character creation, not strictly imposed rules. Also, I am mainly looking for the "essentials"; things that are, if not universal, at least extremely common to the genre. Ex. Not every single Golden Age Hero has a Secret ID, but the overwhelming majority of them do, so that would be appropriate for the list. Also, include any skills, Perks, Talents, etc. that are, more or less, universal. And, The traditional "Package Deal" rules are out the window for this. I don't really care what the Cost ends up being. Since I mostly am looking for Disadvantages, it will most likely be Negative. Here is an example, just off the top of my head, to get you started. Four Color Package Deal Cost Martial Arts Maneuver 4 Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort 3 Cross: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +0 DCV, 4d6 Strike 4 Jab: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 4d6 Strike Martial Arts Cost: 11 Cost Skill 3 Oratory 11- 5 +3 PSL vs. OCV modifier on Pulling Your Punch Skills Cost: 8 Cost Talent 6 Simulate Death (No One Could Have Survived That!) (+3 to roll) Talents Cost: 6 Total Character Cost: 25 Pts. Disadvantage 15 Code Against Killing: (Common, Strong) 15 Code of Honor: (Common, Strong) 20 Dependent NPC: 8- (Incompetent; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID) 10 Secret ID: (Frequently, Minor) Disadvantage Points: 60 Okay, have at it! KA.

Answer: Because the person might actually read the rules he was unsure about, and not need to ask so many questions! Sorry to "waste" your time Steve, but I was reading a lot of responses here that basically said: "Fred page 211". I was getting a little irritated, and then realized why you were doing it that way. I mainly posted this so that others might read it and avoid being (wrongly) put off. KA.

Thanks for the compliment Winterhawk. One of the things that keeps me from playing as much as I would like is the lack of space where I live right now. If I ever do run an online game, I will be sure to let you know. KA.