fdw3773

23 hours ago, Sketchpad said:

I've played a little bit of everything as far as Superhero RPGs go. By Guardians, do you mean the old game from Star Childe, or the OSR one that's relatively new? 

I've been running M&M for a while now, but recently have been considering returning to Hero. Loved both of the TSR Marvel Games (FASERIP and Saga), and really wished that WotC could release a new edition as an open license game. 

I'm referring to the original Guardians by Star Childe released in the early 1990s, not the more recent one that uses the D20 system based on the OSR.

19 minutes ago, steriaca said:

As soon as I figure out what LOSER can represent as a supervillain acronym I'll post it.

League Of Super Evil-doeRs

Legion Of Supreme Evil Rioters

League Of Slimy Encephalopods and Ropers (Tentacled beasts and villains like something out of a crazy anime film, led by villains inspired by Kang and Kodoss from The Simpsons 😀)

20 hours ago, Stormraven said:

I've played V&V, and also Superhero 2044 - also the original Marvel RPG. But once I ran across Champions, I never really looked back.

It's funny you mentioned how once you started playing Champions, the other superhero RPGs sort of faded to the background. I've had similar experiences where after reading or even playing other superhero RPGs to try something new or because I'm a fan of the genre over the years, I find myself going back to Champions as well. 😉

2 hours ago, Tech said:

There's a supervillain from V&V that I use called F.I.S.T. with a very nice acronym: Fighting Infantry Shock Troop. Some time ago for fun, I decided to run an episode where he had recruited more villains with similar acronyms:

 

F.I.S.T.  (already mentioned)

F.O.O.T.  (Fearless Overly Optimistic Trooper)

S.P.L.E.E.N.  (Super Powerful Likeable Easily Exasperated Nerd. Yeah, it's bad but at least I did it.)

E.Y.E. (Ever Youthful Egoist)

H.E.A.R.T. (Highly Explosive and Rude Trooper)

A.R.M. (A Rough Mercenary)

 

 

Yeah, I'm most likely not going to run this episode again but it was fun trying it one time.

Wow! I haven't heard the villain name F.I.S.T. from Villains & Vigilantes in YEARS!!! The villain team with comparable acronyms sounded like a fun concept to use. It also reminded me of how my friend built a villain team for DC Heroes called the "O-Squad" whose roster was Bizarro, Kanjar-Ro, Sinestro, Titano, Metallo, Amazo, Despero, and Starro to take on the Justice League and Justice Society of America. 😆

Based on what I've seen and read on various forums, "old school" gaming seems to be enjoying a bit of a resurgence in recent years across the different genres. Personally, I recently bought digital versions of Guardians and Mighty Protectors, which is Villains  & Vigilantes 3rd Edition following decades of legal battle between creators Jeff Dee and Jack Herman and the owners of Fantasy Games Unlimited 😉.

I never played Guardians but remember seeing it on display at my local comic and game store in the early 1990s and Villains & Vigilantes was my first experience in superhero RPGs in the early to mid 1980s before getting into Champions (Third Edition). There are definitely some fun memories playing V&V over the summer as a kid back then. After reading Mighty Protectors recently, it's nice to see the rule updates and revisions that appear to draw a bit from Champions in terms of game mechanics and character generation. I had heard of Super World, Marvel Superheroes (FASERIP), and later learned about Supergame that was first published in the early 1980s, but never had the opportunity to play any of them.

Any old or recent memories of old school superhero RPGs? A part of me feels nostalgic enough to invest in either a pre-owned copy of Guardians or a new copy of Mighty Protectors for that old-school feel and nostalgia.

5 hours ago, BigJackBrass said:

I liked Tri-Stat when it debuted as Big Eyes, Small Mouth but it grew increasingly clumsy as they tried to apply it to wider genres. In particular, it was a d6 roll under system, but they came up with the peculiar idea of having higher power characters use larger dice (d10 for typical supers, d12 for the likes of The Authority ). Obviously that makes it harder, not easier, to roll under a given number. There was a fudge I don't recall which made it work, but it always felt like a fudge, as if they'd forced the idea to fit. 

 

And then they went and called the book of female characters Country Matters … 

 I nearly forgot about the difference between Big Eyes, Small Mouth that used a D6 system for the Tri-Stat while Silver Age Sentinels used D10 until you reminded me. That was extremely frustrating since at one point I had Silver Age Sentinels (Tri-Stat) with a digital copy of the BESM Bestiary to incorporate some of the monsters as possible foes and two different dice scales were maddening. 🤪

2 hours ago, Derek Hiemforth said:

Interesting that folks are down on the Tri-Stat system.  I admit I never actually played it (or the d20 version of SAS), but reading it, it made a pretty favorable impression on me.  It seemed pretty similar to Hero System in a lot of ways.  I'm curious what Hero System fans disliked about it.  Was it a matter of the similarities being only skin-deep, while the differences ran all the way to the core?  

For me, the Tri-Stat system of Mind/Body/Soul didn't seem a good fit for the superhero genre. The Tri-Stat system was originally designed for the Big Eyes Small Mouth (BESM) system, and for that genre, it seemed like a good fit when I read through the core rules and some of the different genres I tinkered with at first (Fantasy, Sci-Fi with mecha robots). When I read through Silver Age Sentinels and did some character write-ups, it had a "square peg-round hole" vibe to it when compared to other systems like Champions, DC Heroes, or even Villains & Vigilantes that is also statistic light.

4 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

I have both books and I have no experience with either one. I started to make a character with the D20 version. It does refer to Players Handbook in generating initial stats.  At first I bought the characteristics as “normal” then it realized later that they wanted you to roll for the stats. That’s about how far I got with it myself.

Yes, that's about as far as I went, also. I starting converting some of my 5th Edition write-ups using guidelines listed on Killer Shrike's website, but the desire soon fizzled out. 🙂

Wolf Hall, previously featured on Masterpiece Theatre on PBS and recently made available on Amazon Prime streaming. I've always been a fan of historical dramas since the mix of history, dramatic license, and director's perspective inspires me to research more on my own for additional insight.

It was definitely a talented all-star cast depicting the political rise of Thomas Cromwell and his rivalry with Sir (later Saint) Thomas More during the reign of King Henry VIII in a first-rate production. 🙂

I briefly owned Silver Age Sentinels (Tri-Stat) a long while ago. While a good system in its own right, the Mind/Body/Soul stat system never really clicked with me along with its power caps that would later see resurface in ICONS since it was written by the same author, Steve Kenson.

I would later own Silver Age Sentinels (d20) for a short time in the hopes of attracting D&D and Pathfinder players since it followed the same system for a potential crossover. I got the idea from a reading a Spider-Man/Red Sonja crossover years ago where Red Sonja magically emerged in modern day New York City and more recently, the DC Injustice crossover with the Masters of the Universe. Unfortunately, it never developed so I never really had a chance to run it to see how it played.

Has anyone here had any experience with Silver Age Sentinels? If so, how did it go?

You have some interesting villain ideas. Here's my feedback for your consideration:

Piper: The idea of bagpipes instead of the wooden pipe from the Pied Piper of Hamelin or a flute used by DC's villain of the same moniker is interesting. Granted, I'm a little biased because of love the bagpipe music used in the soundtrack for the 1995 film Braveheart. A challenge may be in terms of describing the special effects since the pipes where the sound comes out are oriented to the rear of the user and not the front like the traditional pipe instrument, so it may be producing some type of aura (e.g. force field) or a generated shock wave of some kind from the entire body when the instrument is used.

Red Devil: The concept/origin story is unique, but the name doesn't seem to fit. An idea for your consideration is, "Maestrul Flăcării," which loosely translates to "Flame Master" in Romani, a language used by Gypsies. Or, maybe "Sfiato Fiamma," that loosely translates to "Flame Breather" in Italian. It could be a stage name that he used in the circus to become his villain name.

Warlock: It's a good overall concept and the name fits.

Since my sessions have been at local game conventions that involve pre-generated DC and Marvel heroes that players select, the memorable moments come from the players themselves during the scenarios that involve crossovers between the DC and Marvel heroes in their interactions. Some notable lines from the players with one another over the years:

Hulk (to Iron Man after meeting Batman and Superman): "Hey, Tony, what's with these guys here? They're wearing their underwear on the OUTSIDE!"

Iron Man (upon meeting Huntress and later Wonder Woman): "Hey, how you doin'? I'm Tony..."

Batman: "I'm BAT-MANNNN!!!" Iron Man (in response): "And...?"

Power Girl (to Iron Man): "EYES UP HERE!!!!"

On 4/6/2021 at 7:54 PM, Christopher R Taylor said:

 

Thrash your throat doing that voice for long, though

True, which is why I kept it to quick phrases and one-liners and not the long monologues and soliloquies featured in the cartoons back then. 😉

"Behold...the Sword of Plundarrrrr!!!!"

"Oh-ho....you dare challenge Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!?"

"Bwah-ahahaha!!!!"

"Oh-ho...what is this!?"

Defender and Quantum automatically come to mind when I think of iconic heroic characters that represent Champions. Defender has endured since 4th Edition as mentioned earlier by others and Quantum was featured in a various 4th Edition source book and adventure covers, along with a new incarnation for the short-lived Champions: The New Millennium.

For iconic villains, Mechanon and Doctor Destroyer come to mind for me automatically, along with Grond and Foxbat since they've been around for so long. 😀

Yes, I've employed some wacky elements in Champions that are a shout-out to nostalgia and allows me to use the voices as a GM. Two immediately come to mind:

1) Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living from the ThunderCats cartoon, especially for lower-powered heroes like Batgirl and Booster Gold where a sarcophagus is unveiled at a museum and it opens to reveal Mumm-Ra.

2) Pinky Pie from the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic cartoon as a supporting character to the players who serves as the "voice" of the GM as needed. If you read her profile on Death Battle featured on YouTube, her power level is surprisingly high. 🙃

59 minutes ago, DreadDomain said:

I like this format. It's nice and clean. Have you set this up as a HD export? I have posted a while ago DC characters (in the download section) 

using a Word template that I liked but I have no clue how to make it a HD export.

 

Aldo Regalado has developed a nice format for his Superverse supplement. It may not be the final version but here is a good look at it. Not sure if he has made it available and set it up as a HD export https://tgidragonflystudios.wordpress.com/2019/01/01/champions-character-sheet-thrice-the-charm/

Unfortunately, no, I don't know how to export Hero Designer into a Microsoft Word template, either. I export the Hero Designer file as a PDF and then manually type the information into the Microsoft Word template and print off as needed. This is why the character point values for each Characteristic, Skill, etc. are omitted to make it easy to read for the players when they show up to play at my table during the convention. They see the overall point total as a general benchmark of how powerful the character is before selection (e.g. seeing if it's better to be DC's Booster Gold or Marvel's Wolverine). 

I did try printing off Aldo Regalado's character sheet and the font came out really small for me, about the equivalent of printing the Hero Designer PDF which is hard to read.

15 hours ago, Spence said:

 

I am using two formats for my intro game.

 

1st is one of the Hero Designer sheets for 5th.

The second is a stripped down, no points version for play.  It will not be a template for HD, but I will just update it manually. 

 

This way the players will be able to see the full sheet when they reach a point that they want to.

 

I am still trying to get a design for the play sheet that I like enough to use. 

 

Yes, coming up with a character sheet format that works for you and the players for Hero System is more difficult than it seems. I remember printing off the character sheets from Hero Designer directly and it was a hot mess of font that was difficult for the players to read unless they had a magnifying glass. 🤪I later developed a character template that I liked for 6th Edition that was adapted from what I saw on Killer Shrike's website. It's attached as a reference and is in Microsoft Word format for easy input. If you like it, please let me know and I'll post it in the downloads section.

WonderWoman.pdf

1 hour ago, Spence said:

 

I think 3rd would probably be better for introducing new players.  But I like the 5th better for myself. 

 

A question though.  Why remove all the build annotation and point values but leave the point totals? 

Yes, that's the problem I'm running into in terms of format. I really like the 5th Edition format also, but it may be confusing for new players when I resume the game event scene down the road. I don't want to print different formats of the same character if I can avoid it, other than maybe having a 5th and 6th Edition of the same one since there are some distinct differences (and some really do prefer 6th over 5th 😉).

I think I may end up featuring the option of 3rd Edition characters of the "popular three" for Marvel and DC since brand new players won't likely be familiar with characters like Power Girl or Captain Atom, but likely Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman from DC and Captain America, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) from Marvel.

The removal of the point annotations was because the players didn't care for them at all. They were just excessive numbers that were confusing, especially for the new players. I kept the point totals as a reference for myself as a basic idea of power level/benchmarking so I kept some type of balance going into the scenario I ran for the event. If the players chose low level characters like Huntress, Batgirl, and Booster Gold, I made sure that they didn't face the equivalent of Marvel's Dr. Doom or DC's Doomsday on their own.

3 hours ago, steriaca said:

Both are exactly the same. No new information at all. It all depends on your taist in formating.

Yes, the question I'm asking is which formatting appears easier to read for a new (or even not-so-new) player. Is it the Third or Fifth Edition format?

Hi. In-person gaming at conventions will someday resume, and in the interim I've been updating various Champions characters and materials. In between all of the number crunching and balancing CPs for 5th Edition, I came across a digital copy of 3rd Edition that I had in my archives. After skimming through it,  it made me feel even more nostalgic for the game since it seemed much simpler and in terms of writing style, read like a game book to be played instead of a textbook to be studied. I can really relate to a previous thread describing a Third Edition Renaissance.

Previously, I remember using 5th Edition to introduce two people to superhero roleplaying a few years ago at a local event and they were a bit overwhelmed by everything. In hindsight, I'm wondering if the 3rd Edition character template is better to use, especially for new players.

An example of each are attached for your feedback to see which seems more player friendly to read....the 3rd Edition or 5th Edition format?

Thanks for your help!!! 😉

Superman_3rdEd.pdf Superman_5thEd.pdf

The Champions sessions I run have been at local game events and conventions that involve stand-alone scenarios in recent years. Players that attend vary in experience level where some have played Hero System for decades, while for others it is their first time ever participating in a RPG. They select a pre-constructed character from the DC or Marvel Universe, and the scenario is designed to enable the crossover.

As a result, yes, a wide range of power-levels are used: 400 (or lower), 500, 600, and as high as 750. Some attendees really do choose a character like Booster Gold over Batman or Superman, or prefer using Batgirl or the Huntress over Wonder Woman or Power Girl. 🙂

If I ran a campaign with players similar to the ones I played ICONS with previously using 6th Edition rules, they would probably start at around the 500 CP level and work their way up from there.

17 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

@fdw3773, if you’re looking for a simple Super Hero system, good luck. I have bought several game systems and I haven’t found one yet to my liking. I alsways go back to Hero System.

I used to play ICONS a lot at the local game conventions and even had a campaign that lasted for several months, which is about as rules light as it gets while still being a quality RPG, but it definitely had a ceiling that hindered it. After playing other games in the superhero genre, I also find myself going back to Hero System. 😉

On 3/21/2021 at 10:14 PM, Ninja-Bear said:

 

@fdw3773 if you’re on the fence about buying it, I would say the cheapest option would be to buy the Deluxe Rules and just Necessary Evil. NE has the Super Rules and Plot Point campaign. If you are a causal player this is probably the most cost effective. I do believe that they are looking to update NE to SWADE but when? Not sure.

Thank you, Ninja-Bear, and so many others in this forum for sharing your gaming experiences and insights about Savage Worlds. While a good system in its own right as explained by those in this board, it would not be a good fit for me. Thank you all again for saving me a nice bit of $$$ and even more time from the likely aggravation I would experience trying to convert my 5th and 6th Edition write-ups to this system.

I recently came across Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE) and was fairly impressed by the style and substance of this universal game system. However, reading some sample excerpts and reviews are a lot different than actual game play.

Has anyone played a superhero themed campaign for Savage Worlds? If so, how was it? I've been playing Champions on and off for around 20+ years now, and while it will always have a special place in my heart, the number-crunching of 5th and 6th has gotten old and other rules-light games like ICONS is a little too rules-light for me.

Thanks in advance! 😀

Simple builds that reflects the main idea that is understandable for the players is definitely my preference. Previously, I ran Champions at the local game conventions for the past few years where players would select pre-generated characters that I created across the DC and Marvel Universe. Some had played Champions before, and some were brand new to roleplaying in general. If I had attempted to use overly detailed character write-ups, the players would be turned off immediately and move on before they even started.