Redmenace

The issue of Game Trade I bought today has the cover art as the cover. Its sweet. Captures the comic crossover feel beautifully.

PS. If you know anyone who subscribes to Pyramid, Steve Jackson Game's online magazine, there is an article in the archives called Psi, Psi West that could be of use to you.

I agree with Smoot, this sounds like a very interesting campaign. As an aside, I was thinking that the 1860s were a more religious time and that a super human ability might reflect that. So maybe they'd be called Blessings, Charms, Hexes or Gifts (ie from God). It would infringe on the Wildcards terminology, but card terms like having an Ace (or maybe a Black Ace for a Rka/Hka might work), Deuce for minor 15 point or less abilites, Joker for powers with side effects, etc. Stealing, I'm sorry I meant homaging, once again this time from X-Men, The really big players in the superhuman world might have Suit names like the Red Queen for a woman with lethal abilities or Queen of Hearts for an mind controller. The Union and Confederates might have different phrases the same phenomina. I think Orson Scott Card wrote a trilogy about Alvin the Maker, a pre civil war man with a "Knack" for manipulating materials and seeing the weak spots in things as a kind of low level super ability. SPOILER BEGIN There was a low level pyrokineticist in the second book, who couldn't do much more than make a continuos spark. He was bad news around gunpowder. END SPOILER Other resources: It sounds like you have enough real history material so I'll list some game and fiction stuff. Devil's Tower, by Mark Sumner, Random House, isbn 0-345-40209-x An entertaining novel about the Civil War fought in an alternate universe with magic side by side with conventional weaponry. Magic and super heroics aren't too far from one another and it has some material that might be of interest too you or perhaps to "recharge your batteries" if you ever find your enthusiasm lagging. I believe it was only released in paperback, making it pretty afordable. Western Hero, from a predecessor to DOJ, lots of Western Era technology and skills written up for Hero. There was also an accompanying Adventurer's Club magazine that had a variety of Native American magic spells, and maybe a martial based on lassoing. Sorry but I forget the details of that issue. Micro tactix, a on the web company which has among other things a set of downloadable paper miniatures in PDF format. The set I'm suggesting is called Vulture Gulch,(I think), and is several Western style buildings, wagons, etc. It's a nice and cheap way to add some window dressing to a battle field. $5.00 last time I checked. Good Luck and if you have the time and or interest, I for one would love to hear about your campaign once it gets going.

I agree with Smoot, this sounds like a very interesting campaign. As an aside, I was thinking that the 1860s were a more religious time and that a super human ability might reflect that. So maybe they'd be called Blessings, Charms, Hexes or Gifts (ie from God). It would infringe on the Wildcards terminology, but card terms like having an Ace (or maybe a Black Ace for a Rka/Hka might work), Deuce for minor 15 point or less abilites, Joker for powers with side effects, etc. Stealing, I'm sorry I meant homaging, once again this time from X-Men, The really big players in the superhuman world might have Suit names like the Red Queen for a woman with lethal abilities or Queen of Hearts for an mind controller. The Union and Confederates might have different phrases the same phenomina. I think Orson Scott Card wrote a trilogy about Alvin the Maker, a pre civil war man with a "Knack" for manipulating materials and seeing the weak spots in things as a kind of low level super ability. <> Other resources: It sounds like you have enough real history material so I'll list some game and fiction stuff. Devil's Tower, by Mark Sumner, Random House, isbn 0-345-40209-x An entertaining novel about the Civil War fought in an alternate universe with magic side by side with conventional weaponry. Magic and super heroics aren't too far from one another and it has some material that might be of interest too you or perhaps to "recharge your batteries" if you ever find your enthusiasm lagging. I believe it was only released in paperback, making it pretty afordable. Western Hero, from a predecessor to DOJ, lots of Western Era technology and skills written up for Hero. There was also an accompanying Adventurer's Club magazine that had a variety of Native American magic spells, and maybe a martial based on lassoing. Sorry but I forget the details of that issue. Micro tactix, a on the web company which has among other things a set of downloadable paper miniatures in PDF format. The set I'm suggesting is called Vulture Gulch,(I think), and is several Western style buildings, wagons, etc. It's a nice and cheap way to add some window dressing to a battle field. $5.00 last time I checked. Good Luck and if you have the time and or interest, I for one would love to hear about your campaign once it gets going.

Good luck Steriaca, I'd like to see it.

Re: What to call this limitation An IIF becouse only magically sensitive people can sense it, ie a IIF with a big except for Magi who would treat it like an OAF or IAF maybe? Depending on how common magi are in your campaign I'd expect atleast a -1/2 but that's up to your GM.

How many points are the average soldiers built on? A 200 point chr. is going to be very good against even 50 point soldiers. A gatling gun or cannon would probably give them some real problems but average soldiers have what, 1d6 pistols, 2d6 rifles and possibly a sabre or knife, or are they gonna be facing Steampunk/Victorian era machinery? They'll have to be tough or hard to hit to go against them. OK, back to the point, if you want them to face big threats but still be vulnerable to the common soldiery I'd guess you'd have to have a set of pre decided limits on powers and point totals you could spend. Some thoughts- Damage reduction only diminishes a percentage of incoming attacks, if the pcs can't buy up PD/ED then they can be whittled down by even conventional arms. That way you can simulate guys who can stand up to some single attacks but not forever or without cost. Mental control or illusian powers might be far worse when used in battlefield circumstances. Fog of war can all ready turn a charge into a catastrophe, with a little boost, a mentalist could really get out of control. If your campaign is likely to include such maybe you might draw up some basic guidelines such as the prescence of a commanding officer with a decent prescence or oratory increases the effect multiple on mental powers by 5 or more points to control the soldiers. As a thought you might set a limit of say 50 points for a pc's main power and 25-30 for secondary ones. It reflects the early days of superheroics where a single super humanability was enough, certainly a superfast character that does a conventional move by with a sabre is going to get noticed. That may not be what you have in mind of course.

Just buy the explosian advantage on the PC's strength. Alternately you could use change environment to make an area centered around the PC that effects dex, making it hard for people to keep their balance. The 5th ed rulebook goes into greater depth and the Until Superpower database probobly more so.

Truly you are the Burger King of Kings. I figured as much but it's always good to ask. Thanks

Ms. Cleo? Is that you? PS If your so damn psychic where are my fries?

Fun idea, I like putting supers and "deuce" supers into proffesions. May I borrow that?

Great looking piece. How was connecting the two torsos?

Re: Illuminated Hero Slug and his Elder Worm masters for Cthulu or find a copy of Champions 3D for the Horror world section, there was also a Horror enemies book. The Ufos could employ Firewing but that seems too overt, Esper from CKC would be better and Menton and Mentalla better still. Fiacho could represent the Gnomes of Zurich. Doctor Destroyer would be aware of the other power blocks and working to subvert them. Maybe his expatriate agents Menton and Mentalla are actually pulling strings from behind the scenes. Maybe Doctor Destroyer doesn't exist at all. Of course in a truly Illuminated campaign the Champions would be working for Shangrila, or whatever the "good guy" illuminated group is, which would secretly be manipulated behind the scenes by Doctor Destroyer. Imagine how surprised they will be when they discover they helped him take over the world. Good Luck and if you don't already have them, consider taking a look at Gurps books Warehouse 23, Pyramid and Black Ops. Fnord

1.) Austria has a long history of occupation. Stone age tribes lived in the general area. They may have worshipped Elder worms or some other awful things, the sites of power or artifacts could still be around. Demon, or any other supernatural villain, could easily be involved in excavating them. The Romans also occupied the area and had a history of absorbing regional religions into their own. Perhaps a cult has managed to survive intact from anchient times and now the stars are right for ascendancy. 2.) As mentioned above, there is World War two and the Cold War to consider. The Nazis hid much of the spoils of war in the form of artwork and Gold, etc. in various places and there might be a major cache in the area. Neo nazis could be trying to find it to finace their operations. In a comic book world it could easily be WW2 super pulp technology thats hidden, death rays, cryogenically suspended fanatic, superhuman agents, the remnants of the Nazi A-bomb project, etc. 3.) The Russians captured many nazis at the end of the war. Maybe some KGB officer who "debriefed" some enemy officers discovered the cache of whatever and kept his mouth shut, planning to claim it for himself someday. Maybe it's Col. Vaslov from Red Doom. (One of your characters has history with him, I think?) 4.) The Spear of Destiny,(the Spear of Longinus, allegedly the spear used to dispatch Christ and reputed to have the magical ability to grant victory to the side that holds it), could be hidden there. At one time "a spear of Longinus" was owned by the Hapsburgh family and very likely it atleast passed through Vienna. There were many versions passsed as the real thing and who knows which is which. If the Nazis or Russians could want it to reverse their historical fortunes, Demon would love to have it, (maybe its the most powerful unholy artifact on Earth), and the Vatican would prize it as perhaps the greatest surviving relic short of the Holy Grail. 5.) Eurostar, probably only a part of the whole team unless your PCs are very powerful, could do their banking here, have a hideout or be planning a destabilizing attack. The UN's third largest conference center is here, one of Europes finest schools- The Technical University is there as are numerous well funded banks. Any of the aformentioned could make a grand target for Eurostar, Russian Mobsters, Viper etc. Possible villain: From my home campaign, Voltaiac, Kurt Hayder, an immensely powerful mutant with extensive electrical abilities and defenses. He draws extra power from the local power grid which acts like a constantly topped off endurance battery. The Key to stopping him is to cause a black out then whittle him down when he has to use his own endurance. Personality: Voltaiac is a commoner who'd like very much to be a modern Napolean. He has a very deep and real appreciation of classic European culture and indeed considers it the apex of human achievment in the arts. He also holds himself as an elite and the rightful ruler of the lessers around by virtue of his powers and innate superiority. He particularly disdains the Americans for the popularity and influence their "sub barbaric" culture has had on his beloved Europe. Enemies: Until, naturally, would see him as a dangerous and violent super criminal which in fact he is. He views the people in the street as his rightful subjects to do with as he pleases, that includes manipulation or sacrafice as he sees fit. This has lead to bloody confrontations in the past. Eurostar, Fiacho is kind of a Political version of the would be Monarchist Voltaiac. Too much alike to share a single continent, a armed confrontation is inevitable. In the end, (Fiacho's goal is unification of Europe into a new, borderless super state. Voltaiac would oppose this as homogenization of the greatness and individuality of his rightful kingdom.) Neo Nazis or remnants of the Reich, As bad as Voltaiac is, he holds the Nazis as little more than trash. He might even work with the authorities to fight their resurgence. Psycho handles: Just in case you have a mentalist, Voltaiac is very overconfident and egotistical but this is a facade. He was raised in near poverty in a small town in Germany. Small for his size and easily victimized, his early life was a portrait in suffering. A mental illusionist could make him relive any number of beatings or traumatic events possibly taking the form of a particular tormenter from his past. Nobles Oblige, He is an awful Euro-supremacist but with that comes a sense of responsability. If his actions would endanger cultural artifacts, artworks etc. Voltaiac would voluntarily retreat from the battlefield rather than endanger them. Visuals, Voltaiac is a tall, well muscled male. He wears a jet black costume with metallic gold trim and mask. When using his powes he is surrounded by small electrical arcs which jump towrds any conductive material within a few feet of him. he normally levitates 6-12 feet above the ground to better demonstrate his superiority. Attacks that do extra knockback can really take him down a peg in this situation but he is an egomaniac afterall. His powers are flashy in an electrical phenomina way. becouse of the symbolic similarity to certain deities, he is very fond of casting lightning bolts. Hope this gives you something to work with and feel free to disect or discard as fits your campaign

Nice, do you have any more you could post?

Re: UNTIL Superhero Team I don't know how much more I can offer that hasn't been said above but here goes. 1.) Interaction with the locals How do they get along with the local heroes? Considering past history with America, do the Patriotic American teams resent them? What happens when they have to work with them in a crisis? If Grond crosses the border into Canada or Mexico, does the US lose the right to pursue him amd Unity pick up the jurisdiction, perhaps at the behest of the Mexican or Canadian governments? Even more so, how do the American Intelligence and police agencies react to them. It took 9/11 to get them to put down rivalries and start cohesively working with one another. Unity is probably going to be a hard sell. Ultra nationalists like SAT or Primus might be indifferent to actively hostile. This is a good oppourtunity for team vs. team rivalry, particularly so if the US teams feel they dropped the ball with 9/11 or the destruction of Detroit, (the Chmaps univers equivalent). They might feel they had something to prove. 2.) Different Mandates: If your campaign was to mirror recent real world history, The US goes to war and the UN sits it out. Do your heroes act to fill up the power vacume in the US? Certainly some villain would take advantage of the local military and military supers being abroad. 3.) Threats to international Peace: In a world with a dozen or so major league supervillains, Dr. Destroyer, Gravitar etc, a UN team would be expected to respond wherever in the world they appear. In reality, the UN is looking soft right now, (or level headed depending on what side of the fence your on), they might step up combatting terrorists, international criminals like Viper, or villains who use the US as a base but commit crimes elsewhere. In the past, numerous groups from Al-Qaeda to the IRA and others have based fund raising and paramilitary training grounds on US soil for actions domestic and abroad. Viper might try to actively recruit US service men and women due to their advanced training. That would be worth breaking up. The US also has a huge techno/corporate infrastructure, maybe the machines, chemicals etc. that a master villain needs are only located here. Until has followed the villains actions and figures out that a master plot to take over the world, he or she only needs one more component and that can only be found at an American Army base or Corporate lab. Disaster relief Earthquakes on the West coast, Hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, Volcanoes in Hawai or the Pacific Northwest, Huge wildfires in Colorado etc., any of which could be triggered by a master villain maybe even simoultaneously. Invasion Should aliens, extradimentionals, subterrans etc. decide to invade, it might make sense to knock the toughest guys on the block off first and that would be the US fighting machine, particularly if our forces are mobilized abroad. How do I prevent them from calling for help in the form of agent squads when the going gets tough... and when SHOULD they actually get that help? In reverse order, they are part of a elaborate and extensive agency so yes they should get support but they are also the big boys. Aid should be in terms of intelligence, medical and technical aid and to get the story moving at the beginning or when it stalls. As to agents being called in, let them do so in a support role as well. As an example: call in Airtroops to patrol the local air space after a super criminal gets away, something like an elaborate roadblock. That way the players feel they are part of an extended agency but it doesn't steal the spotlight away from them. As mentioned in Monolith's post it's more effective to have Unity 2 called to rescue agents than the opposite. If the Team calls on agents too often to do the fighting let the agents win one. How are the supers going to look when the grunts not they win the day. It's much more fun to do the punching and win the glory than to be shown up. You could have a training exercise where the Unity 2 team goes up against Until agents using captured Viper equipment and tactics. Letting them kick the supers hinders might light a fire under the PCs to start proving themselves. I am also thankful for any kind of other suggestions, hints, links etc. Gurps I.S.T., The IST is a cadre of UN sponsored super teams that would act much like Unity. There are NPCs and plot seeds throughout the book and it generally deals with much of what you will. Gurps IST, Kingston, describes the posting of a Unity like team to watch over the Caribean. Hard to find but has many ideas. The author of Gurps IST, Bob Schroek I think, Used to have a web page where he talked about the original campaign the Gurps sourcebook was based off of. It had lots of detail leading up to and past the '93 war in Iraq as well as many details for adventure. It was, believe it or not, run in Villains and Vigilantes. I don't have the URL but I remember using the term IST on Google to find it. Good luck with the campaign, I envy your players.

For the time being I'm just trying to make all the PCs and home campaign specific villains. I did Ankylosaur and Green Dragon becouse they were taken as hunteds by two players. I've been thinking about Doctor Destroyer though, Booster Gold body, some one elses arms and head. This could probobly work out well, of course I thought that about Green Dragon. Foxbat would probably make an easy translation from Batman. Currently I'm working on Armadillo, Holocaust and Dark Harlequin,(Black harlequin?). Mechanon will probobly get made sooner or later. I can't decide which version to make though.

I hadn't considred buying at all before but know I'll atleast take a long look. That said, if it comes between spending money on a DOJ hero product or a M&M one with Hero stats, I'd most likely stay loyal to Hero.

Colossus for Ankylosaur with the tale from the Scorpion, both of which came from the recent X-plosion expansion. GreenDragon is a Nightwing from the DC set.

Ankylosaur is mostly Colossus with a tale from the Scorpion. Green Dragon is Nightwing.

Coming up with the name first is certainly legitimate. Of course if you GM you have to have an eye out towards how a character will act against your pc.s. Personally, when making a character to play, I start drawing on a page of paper and see where it goes. It's very random but it often works for me.

There have been several discussions on what to use for Champions miniatures. Here are a few customs I've been working on. I've taken some liberties, particularly with colours. Ankylosaur-CKC Green Dragon, in his Watcher's of the Dragon costume- Champs Universe http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=192258

Just to add another option, here are two customized Heroclix made to resemble Hero villains. I didn't mount them on click bases but there is no reason you couldn't. They're at the bottom of the page. Ankylosaur and Green Dragon. http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=790423

Very kind of you to share. Thanks and much appreciated.

What do you use 4th Ed. Ninja Hero for? Is that the Ultimate martial artist book or Aaron Allston's, (ie Storn Cook's cover or Butch Guice's? The two books, other than the new core, I use the most are the 5th ED. UMA and the 5th ED. Ninja Hero. UMA 5 is mostly what you got in 4th ED UMA, martial arts maneuvers, weapons uses for them in various genres, etc. Ninja Hero 5 is like an expansion of the roleplaying and simulation advice of UMA 4. It has plenty of stats, weapons, maneuvars as well but is most useful for expanding, exploding really, the gameable boundries of martial arts in Hero.It's the book I consider a must have but as a poster above advised, go to a store and read the index to see how useful it is to you. In a sense, the two books are kind of expansions of the single UMA 4. Also, as a final comment, unless you have much more time and or creativity than the average, I'd highly reccomend Conquerors, Killers and Crooks. If for no other reason, It's too useful as a character book for when you are pressed for time or just want to see how other people build powers.