Sammael

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Sadly, Champions Complete does not have the Elemental Control power framework. Still, I like your creations and you know what? Champions Complete does detail a "Cord of Honesty" so I can directly compare your versions against each other and against their version. Very enlightening.

Re: Question: What makes a team leader? The only time I've personally witnessed a formal assumption of leadership is when the GM has specifically demanded a leader be picked. Otherwise the various parties have each been more a band of heroic individuals working toward similar goals rather than a cohesive squad commanded by a squad leader. I don't recall any of those declared party leaders ever having any credentials for the position beyond accepting the position. Further, I would have to say that, in the main, the leaderless parties ran better than the ones with official leaders.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Aha! Butterfingers! Yeah, well, there is that. Aren't the villains lucky their opponents are also a little ... limited.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Ah. In that case, my villains will have a bit of Marvel in them. Not a lot, but a little. Enough to surprise, I hope.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. I think this is a more modern sensibility. More pragmatic, less heroic. Shades of grey versus four-color, maybe?

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Exactly. As a new GM, I'm loathe to treat any part of the rules as broken. I'm still comparing it to the Multipower, but I am curious about the VPP.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. JLA heroes all the way! It's a more difficult way, but more satisfying too. Or was that frustrating. I forget.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Yeah, I can see the wisdom in pre-defining powers and focusing on a theme where you can. I accept that, sure. But as for your take on "Cosmic", I submit the rule found on page 122 of Champions Complete, it is the last sentence in the final paragraph of the second column, under Variable Power Pool: "Typically, these powers are linked by common Special Effects, such as 'gadgets,' 'magic,' or 'mentalism.'" And, of course, "typically" would - by definition - mean "not always." Still, I can't argue the VPP would be more interesting (and flavorful) with a more defined special effect.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Well, psyber624, you've done me a great service here. Some of this stuff would be very painful to learn within the context of running a game and being advised of these issues prior to reaching the gaming table is quite a boon. Thank you. I have some hard thinking to do. It is possible that I might need to alter my position on the VPP.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Thank you for your detailed critique, psyber624. This is great and way better than I have a right to expect. I knew Rocks would be revised when I made her and she'll certainly see some changes after reading these posts. I'm leaving the VPP as written, because that is her flexibility. I do want it to be able to do as much as possible within the limits of 30 points. I thought she'd use her VPP for her enhanced movement needs, among other things (and is part of the reason I went cosmic). Is this not a good idea? At 90 real points, she's going to use the heck out of her VPP. Otherwise, well, ok then. Resistant defenses will be reduced as will be her CON. PD/ED will be improved. I'll look into improved mobility as well. Good stuff here in this forum, yes indeed!

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Very Cool. Thank you, Cassandra. This is something I've not seen in Champions Complete so far, a detailed example of creating minions.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Minions! I love minions. Good advice, too on the ability to do unto your foe. Thanks. Most of the villains will be built at the same level as the heroes and I totally agree about the differing tactics and niceties employed on either side.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Thank you, Hyper-Man. I like the sound of your advice. It looks like sound advice! Truly, this is what I'm looking for. And I like your write-ups! For the record, though, if this were a character I was going to play, I certainly would not build her so that the theft of two small rings would take all of her powers away. She's a support NPC that'll sometimes be around. She's like Strength Incarnate and if she's controlled through mental powers or if one of her rings get stolen, it gives the PCs something significant to handle. Think of her as an ally and a work program. Or a powerful DNPC, taken for no points.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Good news, thanks. Now, pray tell, what would lowering CON and raising PD/ED do for the character? I'm all "ears".

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Well, sure, ayinde, though maybe not as quickly as some might wish (and I wish to tender my apologies ahead of time, my life being what it is, this is not going to be quick). I've been doing a metric ton of reading, with the help of this forum I've been setting campaign point levels and ground rules and doing supplementary readings, and now, finally, I've drawn up an initial draft of an NPC. The Champions Complete rulebook tells me that bricks are often the easiest characters to make, so I figured that was the place to start. This particular 400 CP brick is Anna Dunbar, or Rocks Anna, as she is known when she is "working". She is a Senior Geologist working in Oakhaven, Michigan. She earned her doctorate in Geology from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where she fell in love with spelunking while exploring the Jewel Caves. She was spelunking around the Black Sea when, in a particularly deep cavern, she discovered what looked like the petrified skeletal remains of some oddly put-together humanoid and two rings carved out of crystal. When she put them on she was overcome and passed out. When she awoke, she found her body had crystalized, her skin suddenly rock-hard and no longer a freckled pinkish-hue. She now looked as if she had been carved out of granite and she was far stronger and heavier than ever before. Her powers come from these two rings. One is the red-crystal Heartstone ring and the other is the black-crystal Soulstone ring. The Heartstone ring enhances her characteristics by imbuing them with the essence of the living Earth. This enhancement is further increased if she's actually touching the ground. The Soulstone ring, is a magic ring. Anna Dunbar ..........Rocks Anna, not touching the ground* ............Rocks Anna, touching the ground** VAL ....COST ............VAL .....COST .................................................VAL .....COST 20 STR 10 .................45 STR 25 ......................................................70 STR 25 13 DEX 06 ................13 DEX 0 ........................................................13 DEX 0 20 CON 10 ................35 CON 15 .....................................................50 CON 15 18 INT 08 .................18 INT 0 ........................................................18 INT 0 18 EGO 08 ................18 EGO 0 .......................................................18 EGO 0 13 PRE 03 .................15 PRE 02 ......................................................15 PRE 0 05 OCV 10 .................06 OCV 05 .....................................................08 OCV 10 05 DCV 10 .................06 DCV 05 .....................................................08 DCV 10 03 OMCV 0 ................03 OMCV 0 .....................................................03 OMCV 0 04 DMCV 03 ..............04 DMCV 0 .....................................................04 DMCV 0 04 SPD 20 .................04 SPD 0 ........................................................04 SPD 0 05 PD 03 .................+12 rPD 18 ....................................................+14 rPD 21 05 ED 03 .................+12 rED 18 ....................................................+14 rED 21 10 REC 06 .................20 REC 10 ......................................................35 REC 15 40 END 04 .................60 END 04 .....................................................80 END 04 10 BODY 0 ................20 BODY 10 ....................................................29 BODY 09 22 STUN 01 ..............48 STUN 13 ....................................................84 STUN 18 Powers Heartstone ring: *OIF (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 125 Active Points / 71 Real Points; **OIF (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4), Limited: Only when touching the ground (-1/4) 148 Active Points / 74 Real Points. 145 Total Real Points. Soulstone ring: Variable Power Pool (Cosmic Pool) 30 Base + 30 Control; Powers can be changed as a zero phase action (+1), No Skill Roll Required (+1), OIF (-1/2) 120 Active Points / 90 Real Points. Talent: Striking Appearance (beautiful), all characters 3 CP. Perk: Wealthy, $3,000,000 8 CP. Skills 12- Bureaucratics 3 CP 12- Charm 3 CP 12- Climbing 3 CP Combat Skill Level, All Combat 10 CP 13- Deduction 3 CP 12- High Society 3 CP 13- KS: Caverns of the world 3 CP 13- KS: Geology 3 CP 13- KS: Scientific community 3 CP Language: Catalan, completely fluent with accent 3 CP 13- Navigation 3 CP 13- PS: Geologist 3 CP 13- Systems Operation 3 CP 12- Teamwork 3 CP Complications DNPC: Slightly Less Powerful, Infrequently, Unaware 10 Points Hunted by Circe, who wants the rings: More Powerful, Infrequently, Harshly Punish, NCI 20 Points Physical Complication, Weighty: Infrequently, Slightly Impairing 10 Points Psychological Complication, Code vs. Killing: Common, Total 20 Points Social Complication, Secret Identity: Frequently, Major 15 Points

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. The way I'm planning it at the moment, it works out as you suggest. While I think there'll be some individuals at a variety of point levels in the world and in association with each other (you know, like the JLA), the local area where the PCs will be based (city of Oakhaven) will be 400 pointers as will be the largest percentage of Super-NPCs in general. I'm hoping this simplifies the learning process. And what's wrong with Emma Frost? She can visit Oakhaven any time she wants!

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Thank you, Killer Shrike. I've favorited the website. Plenty of food for thought. I love the flying base.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. This is a cool idea. It's different. It gets the job done in its own way. I like it: Batman as Transformer. It gives me an idea! A Batman-type mechanical character that really transforms!

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. These quick character dissections really catch my attention, as much for the technique as for the results. Very educational.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. That makes sense. It also sounds like a potentially interesting change-of-pace storyline too, right? Maybe to be followed by a turn at playing the villains. Mostly, to me, it sounds like more work.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please.

Re: Justice League-type DC/Champions campaign. Advice, please. Eh? I have created a campaign? For Champions? Wow, now I know I'm good! Have no fear, I will soon have something for show and tell. I'm still designing her, but I will submit a superheroic NPC named Rocks Anna for review.