Richard Logue

I could use a little bit of GMing advice. Let's say your PCs' team of superheroes are not the most uber supers in the campaign city. Let's say, for instance, you run your game based in Metropolis or Gotham. Superman and Batman, respectively, are the go-to heroes for those cities. So, as the GM, you design a little plot of villainy wherein a supervillain exposes his *doomsday machine* and holds the city hostage for one billion dollars. How do you handle Superman and/or Batman vs the PCs? You're not telling your players a story about how Superman saves the day... You're setting a scenario where the PCs can save the day. Once, I used the Superman/Batman was captured by the supervillain,leaving the PCs to save the day. Great, but how often can I use that before the players start thinking the uberhero is an uberwimp? I could claim the uberhero was distracted by some plot of the villain, but used too often and he gets known as ubergullible. The uberhero was out of town this week? Next week too? I just dont want to be hackneyed about why the uberhero is taking the backseat in the PCs campaign. How do you guys handle this in your campaigns? Thanks Richard

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. Very nice! What's Sister Bliss' story? Richard

Re: Villain Campaign: need help I was going to suggest a "Suicide Squad/Task Force X" sort of deal myself. In fact I have a villain campaign framework written up to do just that sort of thng. I would love to run it, but my players don't want to play villains. Such is life. Another option might be to have the PCs already be in a group under a more powerful leader. The leader has gone missing or has been captured by the law. Now what do they do? Here's a good one. The PCs are villains in a group and they've just received a challenge from another villain team. The team that scores the most heists or the most captured heroes, or what have you, wins the prize. It could be an even large scale contest involving many teams. I ran a scenario for my heroes once where they uncoveredd a great villain conspiracy. A dozen villain teams had come together to bid on info about many heroes' secrets and such. Run it from the other side. Give them a reason to stay together and cooperate with each other. Heaven forbid, they may even *want* to. A villain campaign to me should be just as much fun as a hero campaign and it never has to involve being unsavory characters. Perhaps the "villains" are really just heroes who have been framed for some heinous deed and now have to resort to underhanded tactics and things while they find proof to clear their names. In the meantime, the public and law enforcement agencies consider them "armed and dangerous" criminals. Lots of ways to go.

Re: Would you like some sub-plots with that? This is why I bring this stuff to you guys. Because what sounds good in my head doesn't always pan out to be a good idea. This is definately a case in point. "better blended with disads" I'm thinking now to use the standard rules, but add the possibility of a sub-plot. So, players will make their characters with the standard 200 + 150. I would use their Disadvantages against them as normal, but as an option, they can turn any of their disadvantages into a "sub-plot" and gain some extra xp. On the other hand, it is true that disads are sub-plots anyway, and I should be using them as such. Players already get a point break for taking disads, and this idea would give them even more points down the road. And that's like getting double points. So, I guess my idea is broken the way I'm trying to make it work out. I suppose the essence of what I'm trying to do is make Disadvantages not only more interesting to my players, but make them almost *want* their disads used in a scenario. And *that* I should be able to do simply as a good GM and storyteller. Food for thought.

Re: Would you like some sub-plots with that?

Preface: I definately want to run a serialized campaign (as opposed to episodic) with a strong metaplot running through it. I want the campaign to unfold and finish within, say, 22 - 25 stories. I want to start off nice and easy with some unconnected scenarios and slowly introduce the *PLOT* into the mix. Then, as the PCs play, they will uncover clues and such and the *PLOT* will eventually culminate in the heroes saving the city from anhilation/apocalypse. I have the villain and her plans already in my head, and I can see the future of the city if the heroes can't stop her. Now, for this campaign, I want to try an idea that came to me over the weekend: no Disadvantages. Instead, the plan is to give the players an extra 50 points to spend. The chapter titled Disadvantages is being renamed Sub-plots. (See, I just took my sharpie and scribbled it out and wrote "sub-plots" in its place.) Players can opt to spend points on Sub-plots. They cost 5, 10, or 15 points apiece and are chosen/built from the (new) Sub-plots chapter in my book. If a player opts to spend points on a sub-plot, they will earn experience points in return. When one of their sub-plots gets utilized in a story, the player will receive an extra 1, 2, or 3 experience points at the end of the story when the rest of the xp is given out. (The rewards correspond to the costs.) For example, a player wants a Hunted sub-plot. He tells me the villain gunning for him is more powerful than he is, and he tells me the background of the villain's motives. I determine, after listening to my player, that the sub-plot will cost him 15 points. He agrees to that and spends his points. Now whenever I use the villain in a story, in any regard, the player will receive an extra 3 experience. Also, the player doesn't necessarily have to wait for me to include his sub-plot in the story; he can pursue it himself, thus adding to the adventure. Critiques? Ideas? Hates? Loves? Thanks! Richard

Re: "Batman, but with..." Thank you for all your ideas. I'm working on the stats now and will post it up when I'm finished. And of course, I will appreciate your critiques on it. Of course, further ideas and thoughts are always helpful! Richard

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game Ahh.. And now I know where the mysterious global invite came from. by the way, I tried saying hi to you through a tell and you're not set up to receive enemy chat. And thank you. I'm still working on it. You'll note the Screenshots link is currently dead. I'm waiting for the other five players to send me their favorite screenshots to put up the viewable gallery. Richard

Re: "Batman, but with..." All wonderful ideas. Thank you. Keep 'em coming. I hesitate to simply use a VPP because then I don't have boundaries of what he can and cannot do. And I know it is simply deciding the parameters and making a list of tricks he can do, but somehow having it a VPP makes it too open-ended in my head. Does that make sense? Oddhat's suggestion that a VPP for him should be roughly half of my world's "sorceror supreme" character is a nice reference point. It gives me an idea of his reletive power base. (Of course, I have yet to stat out that character either.) Also, the use of Luck is a cool point. I definately don't want to use foci with Arcangel. Everything he does is through use of spells. To me, magic gadgets are still just gadgets, and that would make the character too much like Batman. He is, afterall, an homage character to Batman, but I don't want it to be so overtly obvious. I'm wondering.... Should I put his major stunts and tricks into an Elemental Control or Multipower and then give him a small, but useful VPP for more utilitarian spells? Or is a construction like that more clunky than useful? Richard

I have a major NPC in my Champions world named Arcangel. To my players I describe him as "Batman, but with sorcery instead of gadgets." It is a rather simplistic description, but it gets the point across. Thus far, Arcangel has remained an enigmatic and intense NPC that the PCs haven't had any personal interaction with; he has just been background material for the setting. Now has come the time to utilize him in a scenario, and I've never sat down to write up his stats. However, creating sorcery-type characters has never been a strongpoint of mine. So, I'm hoping to get some ideas from you folks on that, or possibly even some assistance writing up some power blocks. My players, fortunately (and unfortunately) don't read these boards, so we're safe with hard numbers and character secrets. The current Arcangel is the fifth individual to have worn the name and mantle. The first one was in the 1920's and was a fairly straight-forward pulpy sort of two-fisted hero wielding a tommy gun. He slinked around at night and fought the mob a lot and earned a reputation as a grim, dark vigilante. But, of course, his methods were effective. The second Arcangel was the first one's son. He more or less played up the same role during the early Golden Age era, and a lot of people questioned whether it was the same man under the mask or not. One thing he did do differently, though, was fight a lot of cults and occultish villains as opposed to "the mob." In doing so, he had to learn a lot of things about them, and he often had to resort to using some of their own methods against them... fight fire with fire, so to speak. The third Arcangel was the second's daughter. This left no doubt in the public's eye that this was a different person under the hood. She took her father's interest in the occult and made it her own. She actively pursued it, and as Arcangel, openly used sorcery in her Arcangelling. It was the Silver Age, and she was the leader of a world-known hero team. She was very enthusiastic about her powers, but her naivete about its power was her downfall, and she mistakenly allowed some "bad things" to happen in the city. Her son became Arcangel (IV) when she retired in depression after having only moderate success in fixing what she messed up. He was an unpopular Arcangel largely because of what his mother had done. (Keep in mind, the identities of the Arcangels have always been kept secret from the public. Not knowing IV was the son of III made no difference. He suffered from guilt by association.) His tenure was brief, however. He wasn't a sorcery user. Instead he went old-school like his great-grandfather. He ended up being crippled by a bullet in his back early on. The fifth Arcangel, the current one, was introduced to his legacy from an early age, and he always knew that he would become the next Arcangel. His father, and his aging grandmother, both agreed that young lad should embrace the idea of using sorcery as Arcangel. but he should be careful to learn all he could about it and about the pitfalls it could create. The family was extremely wealthy and they sent him to people all over the world to be trained in mystic arts. When he came of age and was responsible enough to take on the role, he became the newest Arcangel. The current Arcangel is very subtle about his use of sorcery. He's not flashy like Dr. Strange might be. People kinda know he's a sorceror, but he's gloomy and enigmatic enough that its not a proven thing. So, just as Batman uses gadgets as a tool or a means do accomplish his work, Arcangel uses sorcery to do his work. Like Batman, Arcangel slinks around at night and scares the bad guys. His primary concern is low-level (and sometimes insane) meta-villains, street thugs that get too powerful for the street, and shadowy cults and secret societies that threaten his city. He leaves the flashy, uber villains to the flashy, uber heroes. And I need help writing up his stats. Point limits aren't a huge concern. As an NPC, he costs as many points as is needed, and no more. But I have little to no experience with creating sorceror-type characters. Thanks ahead of time! Richard

Re: [Review] Dark Champions I appreciate this thread because it helps to clear up some things in my own mind. Part of my own confusion on the subject does relate back to the name of the book. Dark Champions put me in a certain frame of mind - one that is covered by one of the book's genre, but not by all of the presented genre. So in my case, branding did matter. And even though I know in my conscious that the book is more "Modern Action Adventure Hero" and not so much "Punisher and Street-Level Batman Hero," ghost-angel's review of the entire book helps to tell my sub-conscious that. I don't know if I'm being clear. I don't even know if I'm being clear to myself. I just know that I appreciate this thread. LoL Richard

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game I run two accounts and you can add them both to your list.... @Trauma Train @Trauma Train II My heroes are on Champion and I run an SG there named Liberty and Justice. My villains are on Victory where I have my SG Novus Ordum Mundi. Also, check out a website I've built for myself and my group of close friends.. http://www.sixparagons.com Feel free to look me up!

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. City of Heroes toon?

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread.

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. I'm at Gen Con *now!* Well... I'm in Indy already anyway.. Two days early. Stop by the Hyatt and we can roll some dice!

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. Another great character portrait that could easily be used in my 7th Sea game!

Re: Campaign apocalypses: anyone ever done/been in one? I've killed another good thread.

Here's the challenge. (And the makings for a decent resource for all.) Give me five Golden Age-sounding names for heroes. Give me five Golden Age-sounding names for villains. Give me five Silver Age-sounding names for heroes. Give me five Silver Age-sounding names for villains. Give me five Bronze Age-sounding names for heroes. Give me five Bronze Age-sounding names for villains. Give me five Iron Age-sounding names for heroes. Give me five Iron Age-sounding names for villains. (Edit: added the Bronze. Thanks!) Richard

Re: Campaign apocalypses: anyone ever done/been in one? Whatever the rpg, I tend to start a campaign with thoughts of how to end it in apocalyptic misery. (There's gotta be a psych lim in there somewhere.) My current Champions millieu has been one that I've been developing for several years now and I use it as the setting for all my Champions games and campaigns. As a fundamental law of my world, the existence of superpowers is due to tears in the relatively thin membrane between the natural "universe" and the "universe" of magic. Now this is the big secret of my world that has not been revealed to any of my players over the past six or seven years that I've been using this millieu. Fortunately (and often unfortunately), none of the players I've had have utilized the Hero Discussion Boards. As these rips become larger, more supers are created, which in turn, cause the rips to become larger. Its a cycle that, if unstopped, will lead to the uncontrollable, catastrophic demise of both universes. Also, as the rips become larger, metahumans become more unstable mentally and sometimes physically. Heroes start becoming criminals and metacriminals become sociopathic or psychotic. If you're a super in my millieu, PC or NPC, that's the (long) road you're on. Those whose powers and abilities are technology-based (like Iron Man) or skill-based (such as Batman) are unaffected by this eventuality. Also, the ones who are mentalists or mentally-based (such as Charles Xavier) are unaffected. Curiously, magic-based metas tend to be more stable, but not immune, to the effect. Maybe its because they tap into the magic universe directly instead of indirectly. I have a timeline for the world that includes the eventual apocalyptic end of everything. On Earth, where the omniversal membrane is thinnest and most damaged, there will be a final, titanic conflict just before the end of everything. By this time (around 2020 at the moment), all the folks with superpowers will have all become criminals, and insanity will run rampant within their ranks. All the folks, hero and "villain," with tech-based or skill-based powers and abilities will be "at war" with them. In my current campaign I plan to show the players a glimpse of the horrible and heinous future with a brief time travel scenario. I'll show them the extreme polarization between tech and skill-based folks (whom the war-torn and utterly devastated society will generally deem "good") and power and magic-based folks (whom society will show fear of and intolerance for). Many of the NPCs the players know as heroes will be villains of the highest order. The ones they know as villains will have become the saviours to the people despite their past transgressions. But it will be obvious to them that they haven't gone to some whacky "mirror universe" dimension because many of the villains and heroes they are familiar with will still be villains and heroes respectively. They'll have to think outside the box a bit and realize that motivations (and sanity) have become based on origin of power for these people in the near future. Of course it will be important for the players to not have much real interaction with the knowledge base of the future. I dont want them asking their future selves what happened because I want them to figure it out (or not figure it out) on their own. In either case, I want them to be skurred and confoozed when they return home. Do I work "the end" into every campaign I run using this world? No, certainly not. Can "the end" be stopped? I don't know, I havent tried yet. If I get bored with this millieu, will I run "the end" campaign? Probably.

How would you give someone else Personal Immunity? Say, for example, you've got a Change Environment effect going on that gives out a few penalties like minus perception and OCV and such. You bought the power, cleverly enough, with Personal Immunity. That covers you, but how about your friends? How can you give them Personal Immunity as well? Another example. In the Babylon 5 episodes where Sheridan, Sinclair, Ivanova, etc, went to hang out on Babylon 4, Zathros gave each of them a time stabilizer to keep them from feeling the effects of the time distor..... I think I may have just figured it out. Naked Modifier (Personal Immunity), Usable On Others. Does that sound right, or no? Something seems amiss with it, especially with trying to plug it into Hero Designer. Set me straight? Richard

Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Wow! There's a lot here to consider. Some of the ones that really speak to me are.... One thing that I really really like offhand is the "spirits" force field/wall idea. That's a good one. Another good idea is the Necropolis Rising building decay build combined with a Change Environment. Reminds me of the Fear Level system in Deadlands. The Visions of the Guilty idea is great stuff. I like that one. Oddhat's Rotting Disease also sounds tasty. Lucius brings up a solid point about necromancy being an art of communication with the dead. There're at least a couple powers lurking around in that idea. With the suggestions of using the Fantasy Hero Grimoire book and the website with the spells on it, I'm wondering if I should set her up with a necromancy VPP. Do you think that's "the way to go" when building super-sorcs? Freakboy has given me the "second act" for my scenario I think. The first was a plot wherein Lady Hades had purchased a large quantity of black market guns. She planned to hand them out to two prominent street gangs and then incite a grand battle between them. It would've provided fresh corpses for zombification. But that was spoiled by a meddling hero. And Oddhat's Cult of Young Suicide Girls could easily be a third act in the greater story, or better yet, its the kernal of a future storyline involving the return of Lady Hades! To answer Log's question: super mages (ala Strange and Fate) and [modern] city of the dead. There can be minor undertones of Heaven vs Hell, but its more toward Good vs Evil. As for the alternate idea of her personality and motivations (as tossed around between Powerhouse, Templar, Oddhat, David, and Lord Liaden... sounds like an interesting group of villains maybe), let me expound a little more on the character concept I have for her already. There's certainly room for interpretation and change before she "goes to print." My idea was that she's sort of a Legacy style character. There was/is a high-powered bad-guy sorceror in my world who goes by the name Mordred. Lady Hades would be Mordred's daughter or perhaps niece (Mordred had a heroic sister named Lady London Fog - Golden Age, you know). Lady Hades wants to impress daddy and perhaps even challenge him someday to his reputation. The concept is that she's concentrated all of her sorcerous studies to the art of necromancy (as opposed to daddy who is an all-around sorceror; think of him as an evil Dr. Strange). She commands the dead with an iron fist, and she wants to smash the world of the living with said fist as well. The city in question in my campaign is the fictional metropolis of Arcane City, PA (roughly where Eerie, PA, is in the real world; in fact Eerie is a community in Arcane City). Arcane City has a history of spooky supernatural happenings and was founded on the massacre of an American Indian tribe in the 18th century. The name of the city has evolved over two centuries from its original name Cité du Arc (it was founded by a ruthless French explorer). The city itself, coincidently, sits on a junction of ley lines so magic is easier to manipulate there. Think of Arcane City as Gotham City or Hudson City with strong mystical ties. I like the thought of fiddling around with her motivations and personality some, but I'm not sure how far I want to stray from what I have. The story is more or less already-in-progress, but I haven't nailed her down yet as far as stats and such. She does have two powerful minions working with her. One is a brute of a brick named Grindstone. He's a big guy with reversed-jointed legs and cloven hooves and has stone/earth powers. She uses him as her muscle/bodyguard. The other chap *was* one of the leaders of the two street gangs. He couldn't follow directions very well and it ruined her plan. He paid the price and is now sort of like a Harrowed from Deadlands under her control. Please continue! Richard (I hope its not too long to sit through reading...)

In a world... full of superheroes... Lady Hades, a powerful, but not often seen, necromancer comes to town. Her goal is to turn Campaign City into Necropolis, City of the Dead (and Damned). Its a fine start,and I have an idea of where I'm going with the story, but the character herself is just out of reach. I need ideas for her powers. I have some of the obvious, basic ones such as summoning zombies and such. But I wanted to turn to you folks here and pick your creativity some. Gimme your super-sorcery necromantic power ideas so I can breathe life into Lady Hades! Thanks! Richard

Re: Another Hero in search of a name Your Enemy.

How would you build a drug that curbs a Psychological Limitation? For instance, you've got a villain who goes Berserk "when Captured." Once the po-po catch him and lock him up, a judge orders the prison's medical staff to administer some sort of drug that represses his violent fear of being in confinement. What's the mechanic for this? A Transform? That would likely work, I suppose. Transforming him into Same Character Without the Psychological Limitation. Then once the drug wears off, he changes back to his old self. Can you think of a different or better way to build it?

Re: Damage Reduction power build.... help! Well, alright.. I guess sometimes the simplest solution is the answer.. LoL