That's the reason I chose to work from home. Otherwise, I'd have to take the train to work, which would increase my chances of catching COVID. I may not be high-risk, but I live with family members who are. I don't plan on becoming a carrier.
Jason sat at his drawing table, deep in thought. The paper taped to the desk had two body forms sketched on it. A rough idea based on the two women laying on the bed. Marlene had traded Jason's dress shirt for a long nightgown. She had left on Jason's winnings. He had removed her shoes for the sake of her comfort.
Beth was stretched out on Jason's pillow, the back of one hand lay across her forehead. She was still in her blouse and slacks, only having removed her shoes due to being on the bed.
A bowl half-empty of popcorn rested on each nightstand, along with partially drank glasses of fruit juices. The TV flickered with the movie Beth had wanted to watch with Marlene.
“TV off,” he said quietly. The room went dark except for his desk lamp.
Standing up quietly, Jason made his way to the side of the bed. Gently, he adjusted the covers over Marlene. He bent over, brushed hair out of his way, and kissed his wife on her cheek. In the dim light she smiled and nestled into her pillow.
Moving to a dresser Marlene had claimed, Jason opened a drawer and flipped through the clothes within. He pulled out shorts and shirt. He closed the drawer silently.
Circling around to Beth, Jason looked down on her and smiled. Beth obviously wasn't going home tonight. Reaching out, he touched Beth's slacks. Crimson light lit the room. Jason switched her slacks with the shorts he had been holding. Then he did the same for her blouse and the shirt. He draped those over the back of a chair where she could easily find them when she awoke.
Turning back to Beth, he shifted the collar of the shirt to the side, touched the strap of her bra and disappeared it. Beth shifted in her sleep. Jason gently pulled the covers over Beth. He added her bra to the pile on the chair.
Returning to his chair, Jason clicked off the lamp. He had begun on the bed beside Marlene, holding her close while the women chatted before the movie started. Shortly after it had started, Jason's phone rang. He had answered and the conversation started at the other end led him out into the hall. When that conversation had ended, almost immediately Jordan Kendall had called.
“What do you think?” Jordan had begun without preamble.
“I trust her,” Jason had responded.
“She's asking a lot.”
“True, but it's Huntress.”
Jordan sighed. “Damn it, I hate being on the sidelines. What about Solitaire?”
“I trust her when I'm the one paying her.”
“Neither of us is paying her.”
“That's kind of my point. I need to call Knight and set up a training exercise. Hazard pay on top
of it. Huntress won't do any permanent damage, but Solitaire might. And I don't like my people
using training loads in this kind of situation.”
“I feel the same. Brie has Cavalier ready. She's going to work with security. She can make it
look real enough for Solitaire and set up her armor to be disabled by Huntress. What do you
make of her reasons?”
“Virgo. No love lost there. I would love to see that match on pay-per-view. I need to make those
calls.” Jason hung up.
On behalf of those of us who will be breaking our backs shoveling mountains of snow, freezing our tailbones off waiting for a bus or train, or playing live action bumper cars on icy streets in just a very few weeks....
DIE SUN-BELT BOY!!!!!!
I agree with the previous posters, it sounds like it will be exactly as simple, or complicated, as the player/character wants to make it.
It is a lot like having a player that wants to play "The Loner", you know the rugged individualist that doesn't get along with anyone or work well with groups.
The player has to come up with reasons why this person is going to be a member of the group and not constantly running off on their own and arguing with the rest of the team over every decision that is made.
The player just needs to come up with a character that has, as the crime stories used to say, motive and opportunity.
Why do they want to be an adventurer?
Why would their relatives/guardians/etc. allow it?
Also, as with the loner, why would the other characters put up with him?
Does he provide useful skills and abilities?
Is he not too big a pain in the rear?
If the player want to use this as an excuse to play a character that is an attention-seeking insufferable brat, then it will be a problem.
It they just want to explore something a little different in roleplay, then no problem.
One slant that could work, if one of the other players agrees, would be having the young adult be an orphan who believes he is, or claims to be, the son of one of the player characters.
This could go in all kinds of interesting directions:
1) He could truly believe that the character is his father, and based on the other character's wealth, power, or social standing want to:
a) improve his situation by attaching himself to this character
b) seek revenge on this character for 'abandoning' his mother
c) take the character's wealth, position, etc because he feels the character 'abandoned' him
d) have a sincere desire to be with his father and get to know him and prove himself to him
2) He could be a dangerous fraud who wants to get close to the character for some sinister reason, even though he knows that he is not related to the player character
3) He could believe himself to be a fraud, but actually BE related to the player character
4) He could be claiming to be related to one of the player characters, but actually know himself to BE related to another player character, but unwilling or embarrassed to let them know.
He could want to observe, get to know, sneak up on, etc. the character he is related to, and be using his fabricated relationship as a way to join the group.
Elaine King bought reduced END for her Multipower & Widget was the OAF Focus for the END reduction. If you grabbed it she had to pay full END for everything.
It didn't have stats per se and just sort of floated around her. Her description says she listens to it and sometimes responds but that no one else can her it. I took it to be a big of a fun roleplay bit that it was alive to her but it didn't do anything other than reduce the END spend when she used Magic.
Thanks for the kind words. As for the Widget that Elaine King has, I don't remember seeing stats for it in the original Champions 4th Edition, so I would probably have to generate a write-up as a separate entity or look in the forum to see if another contributor has already completed one.
The output file was a Microsoft Word document that I created and then converted to an Adobe PDF. When I previously printed off the Adobe PDF output from Hero Designer, the character sheets were difficult to read for the players, so I went with a more simplified format.
Yes, since German is a freebie because it's her native language, Hero points should have been spent for English, an error on my part. The Hero Designer File was included in case others wanted to modify it further.
If I may (and I shall anyways), try to find a copy of GAZ3 - Principalities of Glantri. It details a full magic school where students are 10 years old at start. It also details mis-casting of spells due to them not being able to weild magic as well as a full grown adult.
The curse of the artist: Close your eyes for five seconds and look again; you'll always see something you want to change no matter how great anyone else says it is.
The CU went more for fictionalized countries than fictionalized cities, which I list below.
The countries I'm including in this list are known to the general public of the world at large, although most people don't know any more about them than they do about any other foreign country. They are all populated mostly by normal people with the same priorities as anyone else, and are an integrated part of geopolitical affairs. Champions Earth has quite a few places which are full of nonhuman or superhuman people, and/or are hidden from public awareness; but they could fill another list by themselves.
The information below is culled primarily from Champions Universe (both the current and previous editions, since there are a few differences in what they cover), with supplementary data drawn from Champions Universe: News Of The World, Champions Worldwide, UNTIL: Defenders Of Freedom, Millennium City, Book Of The Destroyer, and DEMON: Servants Of Darkness. The entries start with what's commonly known about these countries, including what government intelligence agencies in the free world believe or suspect about them; followed by the truth of those beliefs and any deeper secrets known only to a few.
In addition, several of these fictional countries were introduced in the Fourth Edition Dark Champions book, Justice, Not Law. While there are differences between that book and the DOJ-era Champions sources, it could certainly be used to flesh them out for visiting PCs.
So, let's go places:
_____________________________________________
Awad, A small nation on the Saudi peninsula, between Yemen and Oman on the Indian Ocean, is becoming an increasing world security problem. The sheiks of Awad, most of whom are closely related to its ironfisted ruler Thamar el-Hiri, are incredibly wealthy thanks to their country’s vast oil deposits, and care little for how their actions affect others if they can increase their own power and bank accounts. Harsh Muslim fundamentalists, they intensely dislike Western culture in general and the United States in particular, and have for years funded numerous terrorist organizations. Awad supported Iraq during the Gulf War and Iraq War.
Awad is in effect a dictatorship, with Sultan Thamar el-Hiri controlling all aspects of public (and, as much as possible, private) life. The shari’ah (Islamic law) is strictly enforced, and stringent efforts are made to stamp out all Western influences. Maiming and the death penalty are common punishments, even for infractions that would be considered relatively minor in the West. Visitors are usually watched, even followed, wherever they go. Despite these policies, most Awadis are relatively happy, since the government uses petroleum profits to guarantee every citizen a minimum level of income.
In recent decades Awad has invested extensively in technology, ranging from computers to bio-engineering. As a result, today it’s considered one of the centers of world technological development, though many high-tech firms deal with it reluctantly (if at all) due to its repressive political climate. Some Western officials fear that the Awadis use their high-tech expertise to equip terrorists with weapons and devices that would otherwise be well beyond the reach of most such groups. They also suspect strong ties between Awad and ARGENT and VIPER.
Western suspicions about Awad’s connection to supercriminal groups are well-founded. For years Awad’s worked closely with both ARGENT and VIPER, providing a haven from extradition for some of their personnel in exchange for cash and technology, allowing them to build special labs and facilities there, and so forth. Recently relationships with VIPER have been strained since the Awadis suspect (correctly) that VIPER took advantage of the chaos during the Iraq War to steal some Awadi technological secrets. As a result, the alliance with ARGENT has become even stronger.
Rumors about a past joint Iraqi-Awadi program to create superhumans are true. Using a secret lab built in Awad (to avoid U.N. observers in Iraq), Saddam Hussein and Sultan Thamar el-Hiri had hoped to custom-build enough superhuman soldiers to avenge Iraq’s defeat in the Gulf War, take over the Middle East, and establish a chokehold on much of the world’s oil supplies. Unfortunately for them (but fortunately for the world), the program’s only true success was Saddam Hussein's former superhumanly strong personal bodyguard, whom he referred to as Turs al-Sh’ab ("Shield Of The People"). Many failures were dropped in the deep desert to die. The program has been suspended due to the overthrow of Hussein’s regime and the presence of American military personnel in the region, but it’s possible Awad may try to resurrect it with help from ARGENT. Dr. Bohuslav Strasky, who headed UNTIL's own largely-failed attempt to manufacture superhumans, the "Future Soldier Program," has secretly been offered millions by Awad to bring his expertise to that nation. The sultan has a few other hired superhumans on his payroll (named and briefly described in Champions Universe).
The favorite brother of the Sultan of Awad is an informant in the pay of Dr. Destroyer, although probably not knowingly -- Destroyer's agents lead most of his informants to believe they're providing assistance to organized crime, rival nations, or the like.
Chiquador is a small nation on the Atlantic coast of South America, wedged between French Guiana and Brazil. It was a member of the United Nations from 1960 until 1979, when the democratically-elected government of Presidente Pablo Somohardo was overthrown in a miltary coup by General Lorenco João Garrastazu e Silva. Garrastazu made himself President For Life, installed a "cabinet" of his cronies from the army, and declared that Chiquador was resigning from the UN. In power since that time, he has conducted a military buildup that worries the other nations in the region. Garrastazu maintains a relatively massive army, particularly on his borders, and periodically threatens shipping lanes in the area, or threatens to declare war on his neighbors. As yet he has made no moves to use his army and air force, but he must have something in mind for them, given the money and attention he spends on them. A lot of observers, including many in the United States, keep a nervous eye on events in Macapa (the nation's capital).
By Chiquadoran law, all native superhumans must register with and work for the government, on pain of imprisonment or execution. The only publicly-revealed superhuman actually working for the Chiquadoran government is El Grifo Rojo (“the Red Griffin”), a flying brick whom some observers say is as powerful as Charm Girl of Japan.
Garrastazu is now in his mid-seventies and generally believed to be ill and mentally unstable. The CIA thinks most governmental decisions are made by his Minister of Affairs, Alejandro Subano, who may have contacts within either VIPER or ARGENT. Needless to say, UNTIL, PRIMUS, and other agencies concerned about international peace carefully monitor the "Chiquador situation."
President For Life Garrastazu e Silva poses an even greater threat to the rest of South America than anyone realizes. He’s been building up his military with the aim of eventually launching wars of conquest against his neighbors, but since he knows his army is too small to compete with the likes of Brazil's on traditional terms, he's recruited teams of unscrupulous scientists to develop a crash program to create superhuman soldiers obedient to his will. His researchers haven’t had much success yet, but their latest “test case” — a crazed, superhumanly strong man whom they released in the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro to go on a rampage — showed signs of promise. If they can figure out how to make the superhuman soldiers more controllable, Garrastazu can destabilize, and perhaps conquer, much of South America. And it’s doubtful his ambition would stop there.
Unfortunately, Garrastazu e Silva is becoming increasingly senile, and his plans for conquest have become more outlandish. Alejandro Subano is an agent of ARGENT. President Garrastazu brought him in originally to help develop the superhuman-soldier program, but now he's wormed his way into the cabinet and Garrastazu's confidence. Through Subano, ARGENT is now running a series of experimental programs in the jungles and secluded coastlines of Chiquador, and every day brings its plans closer to fruition.
Costa Azúl: An archipelago consisting of three principal islands and several smaller ones located south of Jamaica and Haiti, Costa Azúl has a well-deserved reputation as a haven for drug smuggling, money laundering, and other criminal activities. Its former long-time leader, the notorious Colonel Enrique Pineda, tried to maintain a facade of normalcy to attract tourists, but was well-known as one of the most corrupt officials in the Western Hemisphere.
In 2003 credible evidence obtained by the CIA and presented to the President and Congress indicated that Pineda and his government were responsible for sheltering and training a group of supervillains calling itself Los Aplastantores ("The Crushers"). These villains committed a terrorism-for-pay attack in Washington, D.C. in July 2003 that would have destroyed the Lincoln Memorial if not for the timely intervention of the Sentinels. (To date the Crushers have refused to say who paid them to make the attack.) On top of Pineda's well-documented role in international drug smuggling and money laundering, this was more than the Unted States was willing to tolerate.
In November 2004, the United States invaded Costa Azúl and overthrew Col. Pineda, taking him to the mainland for trial and imprisonment. The US army occupied the country until 2006, withdrawing following "democratic" elections. Since then a series of councils and leaders has tried to steer the country down a better path, but it remains better known as a hotbed of criminal activity than a tourist destination.
(There are several other intriguing developments in the Caribbean that would make it a surprisingly adventure-filled region to game in, but those are not officially linked to Costa Azúl.)
Guamanga: A tiny nation between Honduras and Lago de Isabél, Guamanga is afflicted with poverty and despair. A mere five percent of the population owns approximately ninety percent of the land, consigning the peasantry to a life of subsistence tenant farming. Many have turned to the drug trade, or the theft and sale of Mayan relics from archaeological sites, to survive.
In 1994, ARGENT attempted to engineer a coup in Guamanga to oust the die-hard Communist president, Martín Orama-Tijernas, and replace him with a figurehead it could control. Fortunately, the Justice Squadron got wind of the plot and stopped it, doing significant harm to ARGENT’s interests in the region. Long-forgotten superweapons and other relics of the conflict occasionally appear, causing more trouble in this already troubled nation.
In 2005 Menton used his powers to manipulate the Guamangans into electing him their president — the first step in a planned campaign of world conquest. Thanks to some help from what the authorities later discovered was ARGENT technology, he was both able to affect thousands of people at once with his power and do it without leaving psychic traces. The United States and the United Nations mobilized their forces, but did nothing more at first. Although everyone knew what Menton had done, there was no proof -- and without proof, the UN in particular, was not willing to overthrow a seemingly legally elected official. That would have set a dangerous precedent the UN desperately wanted to avoid... so it found another option.
Working through back channels, UNTIL secretly hired two teams of mercenary villains and sent them after Menton. Their attack was not going well... but then Rakshasa, Dr. Destroyer's shape-shifting minion, disguised as one of Menton’s mind-controlled followers, shot Menton point-blank in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. Menton was confined under "hot sleep" in Stronghold until he awakened in 2009 and freed himself, precipitating the second major breakout from the super-prison.
Larisagrad: Located deep in the Ural Mountains, Larisagrad was once a secret Soviet city, but is today an effectively independent city-state. During the Cold War era Larisagrad was where numerous top-secret Soviet research projects were conducted. Merely attempting to enter the city without proper authorization was a capital offense.The foremost of these research projects was Directorate Black-12, the Soviet superhuman soldier program. This project was about as successful as most of the similar American programs — which is to say that it produced a handful of superhumans in exchange for killing, crippling, or driving insane hundreds of “volunteer” test subjects.
Since the collapse of the Soviet regime, all government work in Larisagrad has ended. To support themselves, the scientists there work as contractors and consultants for whomever will hire them... including more than a few supervillains, according to UNTIL reports. Larisagrad officials vehemently deny these charges. In 2005 UNTIL received even more disturbing intelligence. According to its clandestine sources, the criminal corporation ARGENT has effectively taken control of the city. Further reports since then tend to confirm this information, though the Tribunal doesn’t yet have rock-solid proof.
When the Soviet Union crumbled and funding for Larisagrad’s expensive research dried up, the scientists there were faced with a choice. They could become legitimate researchers, competing in the world of commercial scientific research... or they could offer their services to the highest bidder, regardless of purpose or morality. Unwilling to give up their high-class (by Russian standards, anyway) lifestyle, they opted for the latter path. A few scientists who couldn’t stomach the decision fled the city, often ending up with European or American research firms.
It didn’t take long for Larisagrad to develop a reputation for the quality of its work, not to mention the blind eye it turned to what was done with its technology. The scientists there often put their unique acumen and equipment to work creating technology for supervillains, providing medical care for injured superhumans who don't want their condition revealed to the outside world, and so forth. VIPER soon became a frequent customer, as did the Warlord, the Ultimates, the Crimelords, Utility, and various powered armor-wearing supervillains who needed occasional maintenance, upgrades, resupply, or spare parts for their equipment. Thanks to the influx of cash from these clients, most Larisagradians enjoy a standard of life far higher than that of other Russians.
As Larisagrad’s reputation waxed, ARGENT looked on with concern. It didn’t need any more competitors than it already had. But rather than destroy Larisagrad, the organization’s board of directors decided it was a valuable resource they needed to acquire. To that end, ARGENT infiltrated operatives into Larisagrad, established commercial ties with the city, kept its most important citizens under surveillance, and started a corporate espionage campaign against it. Through a combination of business manipulation, cutthroat competition, Maskbot replacement of key personnel, and blackmail, ARGENT took effective control of Larisagrad in late 2003. The current “mayor” of the city, a physicist named Stepan Dolovsky, is an ARGENT puppet; the group keeps him supplied with the drugs, women, and scientific resources he wants, and he does what it tells him to. The power behind the throne is Group Leader Gregory Attenborough, who reports directly to ARGENT’s leaders and conveys their orders to Dolovsky.
A “client” who wants to contract Larisagrad’s services contacts Dolovsky or any other member of the city’s governing council, the Komityet Upravlyeniya Issledovaniyami (“Research Steering Committee,” or KUI). The Committee looks into the request, determines what it can do for the client, and quotes a price. There’s no dickering — a client either accepts the price or walks away (though on occasion the Committee has agreed to be paid in trade or services rather than cash). After a client deposits the nonrefundable full amount into a secret account, the Committee puts Larisagrad’s scientists and factories to work on his behalf. The finished goods are delivered at a time and place specified in the original contract.
Larisagrad would make a rich prize for many villains and Russian organized crime groups, not to mention the Russian government, so it has plenty of defenses to keep unwanted “visitors” away. Besides the assistance of grateful superhumans they have helped, the most prominent of these defenses is a corps of powered armor-wearing soldiers called the “Larisagrad Division” (or simply, “the Division”). The leader of the Division is Shturm, or “Onslaught,” a superhuman created by Directorate Black-12. Gifted with energy projection and teleportation powers in addition to the powerful suit of battle armor he wears, Shturm has earned the gratitude of the Larisagradians — as well as millions of dollars — keeping their pleasant little home in the Urals safe and secure.
Lugendu is a small country on the West Coast of Africa, wedged in between Nigeria and Cameroon. Lugendu has suffered several violent revolutions in the decades since it achieved independence from France. In 1995, another bloody coup brought Joseph Otanga, then a general of the army, to power. After appointing himself President-For-Life he’s ruled ever since, in part thanks to the support of several major international oil companies (Lugendu’s blessed with large offshore petroleum deposits). In the inland jungles several tribes remain opposed to his rule.
Lugendu has become an oppressive place, which Otanga controls with an iron fist. Natives who dare to speak of such things claim Otanga possesses dark powers of sorcery that he uses on anyone he suspects of plotting against him. The fact that many people who speak out against or oppose him simply “disappear” without leaving a single clue as to what happened to them only fuels these whispers. Some Lugendans even believe he has superhuman powers. Outsiders scoff at these stories as mere superstition, noting how easy it would be for a man in power to make his enemies “disappear” through mundane means like bullets and shallow jungle graves. But most of Otanga’s subjects are deathly afraid of him and wouldn’t think of turning against him.
From his luxurious palace in the capital of Nahambane, Joseph Otanga has worked for years to extend his power. According to Interpol and UNTIL, he’s established networks of criminal gangs and spies throughout western Africa. He uses them to funnel drugs, conflict diamonds, slaves, and anything else of value through Lugendu. Between this and his methodical looting of the Lugendan treasury, Otanga is thought to be a billionaire already, and his fortune is still growing.
Joseph Otanga, President of Lugendu, is not the simple despot he seems. His terrified subjects are correct when they say he possesses mystical powers. When he performs blood sacrifices at a strange altar deep in the jungle, an altar known only to him, he gains the power to assume animal forms (even forms mixing the attributes of several beasts), or to transform anyone he wishes into an animal. It is by these methods -- sacrifice or transformation -- that he disposes of anyone he even suspects of harboring harmful intent toward him. Even more dangerously, Otanga has brainwashed several UNTIL agents who tried to infiltrate his inner circle to be his slavish followers, and turned them into low-powered mystic supervillains.
Otanga has transferred much of his own ill-gotten wealth out of the country. He's invested a generous chunk of it with companies in Millennium City, since he believes in the long-term value of tech stocks. Otanga has become a significant stockholder in several of the city's small, cutting-edge companies, usually through various proxies and without the companies' knowledge. What he plans to do if he gains majority ownership in these companies remains unknown.
While Otanga dominates Lugendu, the criminal occult organization DEMON also has a presence there. They maintain a Demonhame in Lugendu, under the cover of the Good Samaritan Mission, which is one of DEMON's hubs for slave-trading, by which the organization acquires many of the human sacrifices it needs for its rituals.
Lurranga: This African nation occupies a long narrow stretch of territory sandwiched between the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Very little has been revealed about Lurranga in any official 5E/6E Champions source, or is likely to be in the foreseeable future. While few hooks are given on which Champs players can hang their creative hats, this does give them freedom to invent details about the country to work into character back stories and adventure plots.
What has been revealed is that Lurranga is known to be heavily involved in the drug trade and other forms of transnational crime, and sometimes thus attracts the attention of foreign supers. The Vice President of Lurranga is secretly an informant in the pay of Dr. Destroyer, although probably not knowingly -- Destroyer's agents lead most of his informants to believe they're providing assistance to organized crime, rival nations, or the like.
However, Lurranga is discussed in much more detail in the Fourth Edition Champions Universe setting book, and in the aforementioned Justice, Not Law, which details could be used to embellish the present version.
Taqiristan, a tiny country wedged in between Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan, is another “trouble spot” in Western Asia that particularly worries UNTIL and other law enforcement agencies. Once part of the USSR, it declared its independence in 1992. Since the mid-Eighties it’s been led by Bodrush Meklani, formerly a high-ranking Soviet official in control of the area but since 1992 “President for Life.” He rules his small state like a cross between a medieval baron and a gang boss: he controls everything and takes a cut of every business transaction, large or small, that occurs in Taqiristan.
Since Meklani has no scruples about where his money comes from, Taqiristan has become a major transhipment point for heroin and other drugs, a popular place to launder money, and a haven for criminals with nowhere else to go. As long as a “business partner’s” money is good and he doesn’t threaten Meklani’s rule, the President for Life doesn’t care who he lets into his country. As far as Western observers can tell, Meklani has no designs on other countries in the region; he’s content with his own piece of the pie, as long as no one threatens him. He doesn’t seem to have any superhuman soldiers or agents, though he could certainly afford to hire some if necessary.
UNTIL recently uncovered links between President Meklani and several supervillain teams, including the Ultimates and the Brain Trust. Apparently Meklani is willing to strictly enforce his country's non-extradition policy on their behalf... for a substantial fee. While it's not always easy for a fleeing supervillain to reach Taqiri soil, if he can and he's paid up he has a guaranteed safe haven. Unable to do anything about this except exert diplomatic pressure, UNTIL's left to hope that somehow this odious policy will backfire on Meklani, perhaps even bringing down his regime in the process.
DEMON maintains a Demonhame called "the Reconciliation" in Taqiristan, another of its slave-trading hubs, by which the organization acquires many of the human sacrifices it needs for its rituals.
To start with, reorganize into sections. I'm shorthanding.
Cost: Base skill gives 11- roll; 3 points for single attack, 5 points for group, 8 for all. +1 to roll for 2 points.
What it is: determine target's defenses, find flaws to bypass them
Requirements: discriminatory targeting sense
Effect: Make roll exactly; make by more, reduce defense by.......
Limitations:
Cuz right now things are tangled up.
Anyway...how would this work on a mixed defense...a target that has, say, 20 Def, 10 normal, 10 resistant? If I'm firing a normal attack, I clearly don't care about the distinction, so I want to reduce the normal because each roll will work a whole lot better. What if I've got the Resistant as Impenetrable, but not the normal? What if I have it as impermeable? Think a classic force field, with the normal defense being the character's personal toughness. What defenses exist...especially if this is cumulative? Can it work against a defense bought with invis power effects?
I would NOT allow the option of applying this to hardened/impenetrable. Either say it is, with the lowering effectiveness, or don't. I don't generally like "with GM permission" unless there's clear guidance as to why the GM should allow it.
As a player? What would scare the HECK out of me is that this is an assassin's dream. It's an ambush power, more than a straight combat power.
Still, I start from the position that this is a poor idea from the start. Decreasing defenses is the same as increasing damage conditionally. That needs to be factored into the cost...or, be quite expensive, as it is with CSVs. I'm very worried about the ambush aspect, where the ambusher can have 2-3 phases to turn the target's defenses into Swiss cheese.
So a long time ago (about 15 years IIRC) in a gaming house now but a distant memory, I ran a 5th game and introduced a lowered powered hero NPC trying to get into the main hero's roster. That hero was MinMax. When 6th came out, the new cost challenges for growth made that a bit difficult. I think I finally got it down where I think power, CV, and damage variability is still playable. She may still require some tweaking but on the whole seems okay. Sadly, I am the only GM I know doing Hero right now and the only one doing 6th so she may be on hold for a while.
Power Level: Game Average: 12DC, 8 CV, 5 Spd
Sex: Female
Age: 18
Height: 157cm (5'2")
Weight: 51kg (112.5 lbs)
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Handed: Right
Background:
Maxine Ming is a mutant teenager with the size changing power. She found that within a limited range of her body, she could shrink herself and things she has to about the size of an ant. Later on, she found that she could enlarge herself. She trained a unique fighting style involving her shrinking/growth and the martial arts she studied her entire life. Now, with a new suit (which shee keeps in an altoids small tin), she fights in the San Francisco bay area as MinMax.
Personality/Motivation:
She's always had the push to be a doctor or lawyer from her parents. Now in college, she's studying to be an engineer (an acceptable profession) but what she really wants to be is a superhero. So she hides her adventuring behind a mask and suit while slowly earning an engineering degree.
Quote:
I'm MinMax.
Powers/Tactics:
Inside buidlings, she tends to stay small and use martial arts. Her costume can change colors to help blend into the background. Outside, if she needs a push in damage, she can grow to about 2 stories.
Appearance:
She's 5'2" and weighs 112#. She's fairly curvy for an Asian woman with a petite frame.
Notes:
Against opponents using only direct attacks, she's pretty unstoppable. Shrunk, her DCV is around 24. In normal size mode, her DCV can be on the average 12 assuming she's doing a martial punch and making her acrobatics roll. She doesn't fly and that is something I'm a bit torn on. Flight might be incredibly useful. When she's big, her martial punch can land a whopping 14d6. Her defenses go up to 20 points, and with 6 damage negation classes, an average 12d6 attack should do a point or two of stun on the average. Her big weakness is area of effects. When shrunk or normal sized, the area of effects negate her DCV. When grown, while her PD/ED still go up to 20, she no longer gets her damage negation. Combined with the bonus to hit her at that size, she's at a disadvantage with a cheap area effect being just +1/4 on 10d6 normal (doing 15 stun when grown or 21 at any other time against her 15 Con).
I had a psychic character with this ability. She (and the rest of her team) were basically normals with a few interesting powers, and her Find Weakness gave the heroes a way to defeat the villains by exploiting their Complications and Limitations so they could take on villains that would otherwise be out of their league. It gave the group a nice David vs. Goliath feel, and created some suspense because if their plans didn't work out there was no way they could defeat the villain in a straight up fight.
Of course, I also had a player who wanted a character with this ability, paired with a Variable Power Pool. That was a hard "No".
What if we change the focus of Find Weakness completely from what it used to be in earlier versions of Hero?
What if Find Weakness now reveals the limitations that players have taken on their powers? It would become more useful to the Master Villain who learns what can cause the heroes' power to fail.
For example; we know that Human Torch cannot maintain his fire form without oxygen; so the villain can prepare traps to deal with that weakness (or limitation) of the Hero.
Okay, I've had a chance to review the Ravenna background material. (Very impressive, BTW.) Below is how I would suggest making your transition in campaigns. I'll just mention at the outset that I do agree, qualifiedly, with Gnome BODY (important!) above, in that you would want to be on the same page as your players in making such a significant shift in campaign ground rules. I do understand if you want to make this a surprise for them; but in case you haven't done so yet, you might at minimum mention to them that you're experimenting with taking a different direction, but you won't force them to follow if they don't like it.
Given how you describe your DI-based campaign to date, I'm willing to bet the PCs have encountered an NPC who provides them with information of various sorts. Ideally it should be someone your players like and whose fate matters to them. Bonus if he's into conspiracy theories.
Said NPC disappears. Perhaps the PCs seek her out and find her gone. If their relationship was friendly and trusting, he could have arranged to send a message to them in the event of his death. Either that message or a search of the NPC's property uncovers a set of clues to people, places, or events she was investigating. Depending on how explicit you want to make the change in campaign parameters, the clues could include the assertion that they're all part of something much bigger, going on in secret; and even that they're using methods and resources the PC has never seen before and can't explain.
Following are some suggestions for clues the PCs can follow leading them to suspect the magnitude of what's been hidden from them until now. Should you not wish to use the envelope I suggest above, these encounters can serve as their entry into this new world on their own.
Someone has been supplying street gangs with a new type of firearm ammunition, which pierces conventional armor and riot shields like cloth. Analysis of the recovered rounds has revealed nothing atypical in their materials or configuration; but the few rounds which were not deformed by expansion on impact have borne sigils of power inscribed on their surface, which only an occultist can recognize.
An unusual number of wealthy and powerful men have been succumbing to mysterious illnesses recently. Investigation reveals that they changed their wills before their deaths, signing over their fortunes to parties they had not previously associated with. Their only commonality was having patronized a service for very high-end "escorts." Said escorts are actually succubi, enchanting their clients into surrendering their wealth and secrets, before the succubi finish draining them of their life essence.
A thief, assassin, or serial killer (depending on the tone you want) has been targeting people and sites with high security, yet has been able to get in and out without being detected -- the only thing that might lead someone to suspect those crimes were connected. The perpetrator can be whatever supernatural agency you prefer -- perhaps a whole gang of them, even made up of different creatures, tailoring the challenge level to your PCs.
These events can be under an overall direction, reflecting plays for power by one of your hidden factions, e.g. Roma Ater.
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