Barton

rats are my friends I have not found a good rat avatar yet.... I have pet rats and they are great pets. They are very smart and adaptable creatures. I believe a realistically played rat character is very interesting. The rat shape will allow it squeeze into small spaces (an excellent thing for spying). The small size will make it tough to see and hit. A rat's paws while not as complex as human hands has amazing dexterity (they can grasp food and move levers and bars; I had to use wire to secure a cage once the rats figured out how to use the latch). Rat's front teeth are quite tough and sharp. I had a pet rat actually chew thru a thick piece of cardboard (in the wild rats can chew thru wood and even if hungry enough thin cement) You could always make the rat a metalist. The rat could also have small tools (lockpicks or electronic bugs). The rat might have a posion bite (say a 1pt KA linked to a slower acting posion, nasty).

Rats A rat could be a great Champions character. You could easily add poison immunity (many wild rats are partially or fully immune to commonly used rodenticides). Rats have a bone structure that allows more compression, you might add damage resistence. The tail could also be used as an attack (something that real rats do not do). Rats are natural acrobats, and of course add clinging, climbing, and leaping. My wife played a giant rat character Ratigan. This rat was 6' long with a streching tail and martial arts skills. It disadvantages were a very bad smell and dumb as a rock.

CHA and rats My formal training is in toxicology, and Chicago has a story to tell! The CHA (Chicago Housing Authority) erected many high rises in the 1960's for the cities poor. Rodents (mainly Norway rats) were a problem. Warfarin was new, a blood anti-coagulant poison, and was widely used in the projects. The problem was the building gardens often had kale growing them, a source of vitamin K the antidote to Warfarin. This some theorize led to the "super rat" that exists in the south side of Chicago. They are very resistant to Warfarin and some other poisons. In fact to prove a new rodenticide works it must be tested in the south side of Chicago. Lets take this a step farther.... Natural selection leds to better, smarter, more resistant rats. They expand to the tunnels under the city. Pets go missing and are found chewed up. Let the players investigate this and introduce them to giant rats.

Atomic Energy and Chicago The world's first atomic pile was under (YES under!) the University of Chicago stadium. Went critical for the first time in December 1942. The waste (mostly graphite) was put into 55 gallon drums and buried in a forest perserve north of the city. A interesting plot starting point..... Fermi lab also has a interesting story. Numerous (hundreds!) UFO are spotted around the labs. A interesting plot starting point... Fermi lab is very large and has a bison herd on its grounds. The lab has a beautiful 10 story building in Batavia (well west of Chicago). A great site for plot involving high tech thieft.

Chicago Police in my world.... I play the Chicago police as the locals think of them. No-Nonsense, not take any guff! The local saying is "give him a tune up" to mean the person mouthed off to one of Chicago's finest and that he was a little "roughed up" during arrest. I also play the Chicago Police Dept. as not liking Federal or State or international interference. They like to do things the "Chciago way". I also like the idea that was a short lived TV series "Unit Two". A elite secret police squad to battle supernormals. I am thinking of using this idea.

Chicago my world... Chicago also has a very long abandoned underground freight tunnel system (built about 1900) which I have as the site of several villian bases, and the hideout for several hidden refugee paranormal societies. This tunnel system covers most of downtown and was last used to deliver coal and packages in the late 1950's via a small electrical railway. The frieght tunnel system "flooded" about 15 years ago when a piling in the Chciago river was forced through it. It has been repaired. According to the Tribune it is clean, smell free, and creepy quiet. What a great place for monsters to lurk! Also Chicago has wonderful suburbs. The north shore is very high class and trendy. The south side is more run-down. The western suburbs (I live in Lombard about 20miles due west of downtown) are mostly middle class and full of houses and shopping centers. Of course we have many superhighways (great for chases!). Our mayor for life Mayor Daley (son of famous mayor, brother to politically connected Billy Daley) runs the city. He recently closed the downtown airport by sending demolition crews in the dead of the night and destroying the main runway! He is quite a character in himself! The Tribune and Sun Times are the major newspapers. One of my characters has a contact as the society editor of the Tribune! This is a great idea! It allows him to get invites to parties and indirectly know all of the "in crowd". Chicagoians love to gripe about the city, its politics, the sports teams, and the weather. But most love the city, as do I.

great site Very cute site!!

turf protection In my game the Chicago PD is very protective of its "turf". Involvement by the Feds or any other agency (or even supers) is "unwelcome". I play them as going it alone with supers until they HAVE to have help from someone else. The police may not have a lot of firepower, but the legal system can be used as a significant weapon. Tactics that my Chicago PD have used are watching the supers in question, search warrents, questioning DNPC's and the like. The local DA's office checks financial records and phone records to look for evidence. And of course do not forget about press conferences hinting that a super was a bad boy.

I suggest that "it" is an AI robot from an other planet stranded on earth. It's mission is to fight another alien race (built-in hunted). This would explain the extra gear and technology nicely. Of course the disads would be not from earth, and not human. I play a scout robot in a Champions game that is somewhat like this. He learned english and earth customs from TV. One of its quotes is "Lucy I'm home.....". A character that is a fish out of water and very fun to play.

What are acceptable disadvantages that can be applied to duplicates? What are the acceptable advantages that can be applied to duplicates? Thanks in advance for your help. PS Just got The Ultimate Vehicle, I like it. Are you going to write "The Ultimate Base"?

my 2 cents I have found that being able to PLAY (as a player) in a game is good way to recharge. It worked for me.

Hero Designer is good It has been pointed out in many different posts that character design is a stumbling block for players and GM's. I have Hero Designer and have worked with it. While not a perfect program, it is GOOD. I would recommend anyone serious about Hero system purchase it. A suggestion to DOJ: lower the price of Hero Designer! This is my opinion would increase sales of the Champions and other Hero products. Adobe Systems gives away Acrobat Reader but sells a lot of Acrobat. Just my two cents.