Christopher R Taylor

G is for Gloomwing!  This monster is inspired by an old Wizardry game, with an encounter that was so eerie and unsual I had to put it in my bestairy

Yeah I usually use the term "MMOG" not MMORPG" for those reasons: its not really a role playing game.  Just because you can role play in them doesn't make it so any more than role playing your family in the little care in The Game of Life.

Which is another hook: people who play these games can be told about what real roleplaying is like.

Yeah I'd think equal or +10 would work for all but the most dedicated sentry sitting alone at night on watch.  They're pretty inclined to go to sleep anyway.

But I agree that its very expensive to get an effective mental power the way they are depicted in source media.  Generally speaking it costs much, much more to get someone to believe in a fireball enough to hurt them than it is to just use a fireball and hurt them.

Another thought I had based on some facebook discussions: the character sheets.

Character sheets for novice players can be very, very minimal.  They don't need to know the point cost of anything, that's irrelevant to their play at first.  They don't need to know the modifier totals either.  +1/4, etc totally irrelevant to them.  In fact, you can get away with stripping modifier notations down to little or nothing.  You can skip endurance costs at first as well, they can pick that up as they go along.  Defenses should be written out in long form with explanations, not a quick summary that suffices for experienced players.  Its confusing with all those 18/25 (3) in the sheet even if you know the system well.

Their sheet can have things like this instead:

Blast of Doom: 12d6 Blast

Hover: 15m flight, 30m out of combat (x mph)

Force Field: 10 Resistant PD, 12 resistant ED when turned on

Physical Defense: 8  With force field: 18

   Resistant Physical Defense: 3   With Force Field: 13

Energy Defense: 10  With force field: 22

   Resistant Energy Defense: 3   With Force Field: 15

Writing up OCV and DCV can include the formula to make it extra easy.

OCV: 15+3d6 = DCV hit

Modifiers can be added by the GM and done in their heads or privately; the players don't need to know all that yet.  Encourage them to try different things, and give them rewards for it, so they do so again.  If they ask "can I run up and hit him?" Say "sure, you just have a slightly lower chance to hit but you can do more damage!"  not "that will reduce your DCV by .... what is your running?" and so on.

Time enough later for players to learn more complex rules, all they need to know is the very basics, and have a character sheet with the basics to make it work.  The more colorful, interesting, and easy to read a sheet is, the better players will catch on.  If the character sheet looks like a spreadsheet from an accountant, their eyes will cross.

When I built Cap, he was straight human max all stats (20s for primary, for instance).  I based that on the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe saying he could bench 800 pounds (!) so that is roughly 20 STR, I figured.  Since he's supposed to be the pinnacle of human ability, probably 23 would be more accurate.  That makes him quite expensive just in the stats.

 He almost never misses, so his OCV has to be pretty high, especially with that shield.  But a lot of what he does is just a really fancy special effect for indirect so a slot in his Multipower of an indirect blast would not be improper.  

Iagree he should have reduced END on nearly everything; he just doesn't get tired.  And he's definitely very resistant to, if not immune to most poisons and disease.  Some power defense and flash defense would not be unreasonable along those lines either; his eyes just recover faster.  

Repeatedly in the comics he does a shove maneuver when piled on by multiple agents, heaving them away from him, so maybe some kind of boost to STR for that or an extra Knockback HTA that does little damage but takes extra time and concentration 1/2 DCV or lower.

I think teaching people Hero is best done at a minimal level.  They don't need to know very much at all about the rules, just how to interact with the game at the most basic level.  Here's how you roll to hit.  Here's how you do skills.  Here's how you do damage.  Lets play.

Using premade characters for newcomers allows them to step into play very quickly, in my experience, and gamers at least are quite familiar with the basic concepts of how rules work so they learn quickly.

The absolutely worst thing you can do is have three or four people trying to explain things all at once.  It becomes overwhelming and few things frustrate me as badly as trying to teach some guy how to play with kibbitzers throwing in extra details and anecdotes.  One teacher at a time.

The MMORPG has a pretty poor free play structure, they really should have followed City of Heroes in their system - very effective.  But it lacks a certain feel, and I think most of that is the start; you begin not fighting muggers and saving people from criminals, but fighting a nondescript group of bug aliens nobody has heard of or cares about.  And that's the entry; you have to pull people in right from the start.

In any case, nobody is going to sue the local gaming group for playing Captain America.  In fact, Disney and Warner Brothers probably like that idea.  I agree, a fresh new world you design is idea (and that's what I do) but for pulling in new players and lookie loos, having Captain America and Batman on the same team with Cyclops is a pretty big draw.  Once they get a feel, they'll almost certainly want to make their own characters.

And if that character happens to be a Wolverine clone, well hey, long as everybody is having fun, right?

But I agree the main frustration is everyone wants to start out with 50 years of experience Batman, not starting Batman.

I agree, a series of youtube vids (amateur stuff) showing how to build and play popular stuff, especially Champions based superhero stuff could be pretty effective.  Batman, Catwoman, Bane, etc; here's a campaign that is Captain America's first film, here's what Thor would be like, etc.

It would be great but yeah, that's way out of the budget.  I'm not sure Hero Games even has an advertising budget.  We need a billionaire Hero Games fan to help out

Handy, that, thanks for pointing it out Bolo  I re-voted too, maybe others can do so and add in the one-shots if they want.

I am fond of at least one or two sessions of being bottom run nobodies using basic Viper gear and in a five team taking orders.  That would intro the campaign and their setting pretty well and give them a chance to stand out from the average; perhaps 50 extra points to spend on the default Viper agent so they are exceptional.  After that they can build up and become elite.

You could build it as an AVAD, as a small limitation.  I've built several poisons this way; so that there are two sets of defenses - the ordinary rPD defense and then they also can roll to ignore it.

I don't see it being worth -2 unless its really obvious this is an illusion and nearly everyone ignores it.  I'd probably give it a -1/2, if it seems real, because even if someone does spot it as a fake, they still have to successfully roll to ignore it.

I think a poster ad for comic and game shops and a radio spot is more likely for the Hero Games budget - and a kickstarter for the funding even.  But youtube ads and how to play vids would be a big help.  Something fun that you can send around to people on Youtube could go a long ways, just a short bit introducing the game.  Getting podcast notice is a good move too, there are more than a few comic and related podcasts out there.

Well it does if there are no other modifiers.  The thing is, Cyclops doesn't always have to use gestures to fire his blasts.  He usually does, but its not a totally consistent story.   In any case, the trigger is in his gloves as well as his visor, so its pretty tough to restrain his gestures, so I don't know if it really applies.

I use a basic rule for this kind of thing: if its the size you can get a hand through, I use shapeshift.  If its through a screen or a keyhole, its desolid.

Its a bit of GM Handwaving, but you're right I probably should slip in a small amount of shapeshifting just for that ability.  They do change shape slightly to increase their fear abilities.

It seems to me that there's a big market out there of people who have not played any RPGs, at least not the real thing with dice and paper.  Those people could be attracted by Champions where playing an elf might seem lame or remind them too much of the guys in high school that everyone laughed at.  Starting out new players with the idea of being a superhero could be pretty effective these days.

What with the popularity of superhero movies and TV these days, it seems like now is a golden time for Superhero roleplaying.  I know more than a few people who don't care for fantasy that became fascinated with the idea of playing a superhero.  Most people now I think have created a superhero in their head, who they would be if they were in The Avengers or what have you.  Particularly female gamers seem to be fascinated with the idea, where they get a bad feeling about, say, fantasy.

And that means this is a prime opportunity to get people into playing role playing games, through Champions.  Now there are competitors out there, but there were back when Champions was at its height too.  And the other games have their charm, but none of them are as good as the gold standard original.  And Champions doesn't have the rep that D&D has in terms of gaming stereotypes.

The thing we have to do as players and GMs is reach out, and push the game.  I remember well when I first talked to people about Champions it wasn't "its hard to make a character" or "the rules are kind of intimidating but its fun" but instead "dude!  Superheros!"  Sometimes I think we're our own worst enemies when it comes to Hero.

I could see it as a campaign.  It would basically be a series of capers; to begin with, they would just get their orders and have to work with them but as time went on they'd get a mission or devise their own and have to work out the team and how it would be done.  As time goes on they get more responsibility, rank, new equipment to test out (not always reliable or safe), etc.  Basically adventures from the other side of the street.  Kidnapping and ransom, extortion, hiding fugitives, moving stolen materials, and those stupid audacious schemes your Nest Leader comes up with like "today we're going to hold the nation ransom by taking control of the nuclear power plant!  While many of you will die or be horribly burned by radiation, Viper will gain great power and wealth!"

Imagine playing out some of those James Bond schemes... from the perspective of the agents of the bad guy.  Even printed adventures you could run from the other side, like the old 3rd edition Viper module that came with the rules.

Some day I want to run an agents game where the PCs play low level Viper agents that work their way up through the system gaining contacts, rank, and money until they start up their own nest.  I think the experience would be useful for me as a GM to come up with gear, tactics, and behavior of agents, and it would be a fun reversal of the usual situation.  How would YOU handle Captain Invincible so you can rob a bank?

I still think Cyclops is built best with his eye blast being mostly a complication; he can either be blind or his power goes off uncontrollably at everything he looks at.  Physical Comp and a variant of Dependence, perhaps.  And yeah, Havok and Cyclops have a sort of shared personal immunity that sometimes does knockback and sometimes does not, apparently based on the writer's whim.

I expect most GMs, maybe all, give players freebies based on their background, profession, and story.  You might not pay for your contacts, but you still will know people at the office, have people you can call from your past, etc.

I do like the NPC requirement though, that makes building depth and non-combat character story stuff a lot easier and broader.  Its a simple, useful device.

Sounds great, I like the title as is.  Some good rules on the effects of fear on people (even sanity loss) would be useful as well.

Cyke is a pretty good fighter hand to hand, but yeah his blast has to be 15d6 at least.  I gave him that for the build I did, I think, and Havok like 18d6.  Cyclops is a bit campaign breaking because he's a glass cannon, a one-trick pony.  He only does one thing although I suppose you could represent his leadership abilities with a CV Aid he can give others.

His blast is solar powered, and he can run out of energy after a while, but the only time I've seen it happen was once in an X-Men annual when he was out of the sun too long.  Probably not worth a limitation.