Echo3Niner

As I mentioned, this is a cosmic powered game!

In our 6th exiting episode --> Our heroes (including The Aqua Man NPC) spend the beginning of the game, with Wuxing - training and learning how to control and use the bands. The result to symbolize their training is that they spend some of their points and purchase CSLs for using the bands. The PCs then approach the UN through Col. Rage and the Peacekeepers. After much discussion, they eventually get a "Red Notice" (warrant) from the UN for the capture and arrest of Khan Manas II. They work with the UN's intelligence agencies to learn what they can about the Khan and Kyrgyzstan. What they learn is that Khan Manas II has a powerful team of henchmen; The Forty (based on Kyrgyzstan history), The Leaders of the Orda (which means Horde) of Manas: Led by Battle Steel - his most decorated soldier, who the Khan has bestowed a suit of very powerful Z-rad powered battle armor. The Knight of Chains - a Z-rad powered individual with armor that provides great defense, and animated chains that surround his forearms, which can be used for various attacks and defenses Crag - a Z-rad mutated mountain of a man, who is incredibly resistant to damage and hyper strong - but, he is a well-trained warrior (martial-brick) Baba Yaga - the most powerful Witch on Earth - able to wield very powerful Z-rad powered "magic" The PCs decide that a surprise frontal assault on his palace is the simplest approach. So, they fly down from orbit at max speed and land at the palace front door. As they begin beating the Khan's normal henchmen, they are initially confronted by Crag, and battle him. The battle raged for a while, as Crag is hard to damage; eventually, Solar used her VPP to gate Crag to a desert in China. The PCs then entered a large room, with two sweeping stairs around half the parameter (the big fight scene from Matrix 2, with the Merovingian's henchmen). Suddenly they were assaulted from an unseen assailant, who was attacking them with magic. Eventually, Solar turned the air into a blue gaseous substance with her band, allowing the PCs to "see" Baba Yaga, even though she was invisible. With a single strike, Capt. Force knocked her unconscious (injuring her as well). At which point the Knight of Chains and Battle Steel entered through the upper double doors and began to battle the heroes. This battle raged for some time, but both were eventually defeated as well. Finally, the heroes entered a large super tech room, with Khan Manas II sitting behind a desk. He was supremely confident... Capt. Force scanned the Kahn and learned that his suit was actually a containment suit, and that he was a being of pure Z-rad energy. The heroes started to approach, and Khan Manas II tapped an icon on his desk - at which point two huge nullifiers dropped from the ceiling and drained the heroes of several hundred points of Z-rad. Both heroes were severely crippled, with only Solar having a small portion of her VPP still at her disposal. However, both bands were only at about half their power. Solar used her air band to hit both nullifiers with a powerful blast of air, destroying them. Capt. Force used his band and began transforming the Khan's containment suit into lead, in order to trap him in his suit. It took two phases, but he was able to do so and eventually the Khan was trapped! The heroes used the Khan's own defenses to hold off the Orda of Manas, while their Z-rad powers returned; then simply turned invisible and flew away with the captured Khan. They even saw Crag returning (via great leap) as they were leaving... Eventually turning the Khan over to the UN. While they were in the Khan's systems, they learned that he learned about the Empress from his moles in the UN. He eventually contacted a Herold for the Empress, who gave him a frequency to communicate with her. He had agreed to be her Vassal, ruling Earth; in exchange, he would work against earth's defenses, sabotaging the earth's chances to resist her. The heroes then decided that their next move would be to investigate the rebel forces that are against the Empress. And that is where our last exciting episode ended!

I have always found the "How do the characters meet, and why do they join up?" question to be an issue. I've been running / playing RPGs for ~40+ years now. Back in the day, it almost always started with "the PCs are all in an inn & tavern" and then there is a fight... It always felt artificial to me, and rushed. Everyone at the table knows their characters are going to join up, because they are the players of a party... So, I stole from Dragon Age Origins (the PC game). I run a small scenario for each PC solo, to give a brief "origins story" to that character, and let the player ease into their PCs personality, as well as see how they play, before the "game starts" - in case they need to modify something, or even create a new character entirely (if it turns out they didn't enjoy the type of character they thought they would). Then, I have a scenario that brings the PCs together, that is story driven, with a plot driven reason the characters join together as a team. There is a gazillion reasons why, and if done in the tone of the campaign, it only adds to the story. That "characters meet" game is the "game start", and because of the origin play through, the players generally have a much better grasp on their characters when the intro game is played. I have used this process for all my various games now for years, and it has worked out very well, regardless of the genre. I have even just skipped the "characters meet" game, and after the origins solo games, just tell them how they came to be a team, and then start the first game as the new team - this has worked well also. As for the rest; everyone here has given some great advice, and more details of your players and your experience and RPG knowledge and types of games played in the past, will help us tailor the advice for you more. There is a big difference between "My players and I have played RPGs forever; I usually GM, but this is my first GMing experience with Champions" vs. "We're all novice TTRPGers, but we've all been playing WOW together for years, and none of us have ever played a superhero game" vs. "We're a bunch of miniature based war gamers, who decided to try Champions", etc.... Lastly, I will mention a pet peeve of mine; especially if you're a fairly new GM, or novice TTRPGer period. Make sure the players characters all "fit together". For a seasoned (read old) group, it can be fun to have a "Punisher" type in a group of "Capt. America/Superman" types, for the party dynamics - but, for novices, having players playing characters that would as likely fight each other as the "bad guys" can be tough. Talk about it as a group ahead of time - are we going to be hard-as-nails anti-heroes? Or goody-two-shoe boy scouts? A little diversity is fine, but too much can be too much to handle. It will also inform the type of game you're going to run. Just some thoughts.

The Warrior Monk, Gen. Mattis.

In our fifth exciting episode --> The heroes traveled back to Earth and collected the imprisoned Europaite Drone, and asking Golden Girl to join them again. By this point, Silvercloud had built a powered armor suit capable of sustaining her in space. The team traveled to Europa and returned the drone, though Capt. Force was disappointed, as the Europaites didn't really seem to care (again their alien culture being difficult for a Narrai {or Earthling} to comprehend). Golden Girl was successful in at least getting the Europaites to understand the concept of 'cooperation' a little better; though, they made it clear if everyone would just open their minds and join the collective consciousness of the Europaites, everyone would 'cooperate' so much more efficiently. While they were busy speaking to the Europaites, an alien they've never seen before, with 6 eyes, dressed in purple and black, with a staff, that has a ball of energy at the top, lands next to them all. He releases a bag on his belt, and throws it at Capt. Force's feet; the bag contained the mummified heads of Kings {with crowns} who had turned down his liege. "I am Garras Dron, Herold of Tyrannon the Conqueror - I am here to broker peace and offer you salvation." he announced. Unfortunately the Europaites immediately attempted to command him mentally; with the striking of his staff on the ice, black tendrils lashed out and disintegrated the Europaite warriors that were present... Solar put the Herold in a spherical force field and Capt. Force explains that the Europaites didn't mean it as an offense, and the heroes successfully stop the situation from escalating. The heroes and Garras Dron spoke for a while; with Garras explaining the offer: the heroes of this sector of space would fight the Empress, and when she thinks she won, and eventually shows up in person, they would ambush her and kill her, liberating this sector! They would of course then become one of Tyrannon's controlled sectors - but, they would be free of the Empress' yoke! What a great offer! The heroes didn't see it as such a great offer... Though, they did good to keep that close to their vest, and not show their hand. During the conversation, the Herold explained that "Already, the Tyrant of Earth makes plans to be the Vassal of the Empress and rule Earth, and a ruling House of Lyrissi barter with the "Air band" to assume complete and maintain control of the Lyrissi system with the Empress. So, he explained, they were already losing... The heroes convince the Herold they will consider his offer, and he extends them a communicator to contact him. The Herold leaves, and Solar follows him (as she is much faster) - he eventually arrives at a huge amassed fleet, with a flagship larger than Earth - she takes that as her queue to return.... The heroes return to Earth and speak to Col. Rage; they learn the reference to the House of Lyrissi, is the House of Pan Tuo - which is one of the ruling houses of Lyrissi - they have not made public that they have the Air Band, but in the pit of vipers that is Lyrissi, many know. The house assumes (having no idea who they are messing with), that they will be able to use the band to barter with the Empress, and retain control of Lyrissi… "The Tyrant of Earth" - is Khan Manas II, of Kyrgyzstan (based on an alternate history I created). Basically a cross between Vladimir Putin and Dr. Doom. He is a petty dictator, who politically out maneuvered all his opponents by 2011 and took over Kyrgyzstan (which became independent in 1991), then solidified his rulership. (Though no one knows it, he wears what appears and is assumed to be powered battle armor, but is in fact, a containment suit, because his Z-rad powers are so uncontrollable.) The heroes provided specs to Silvercloud and asked him to make containment suits for a few of the Europaites, so they could come to Earth for a summit with the sector's governments, to try to start building the political bridges needed to unite the sector against the Empress. They also told Col. Rage to "do his thing" to start interfering with Khan Manas II attempts to communicate with the Empress. They also had Solar use her Detect (from her VPP) to find any surviving Lemurians; which she did on several Pacific Islands (Tasmania, Samoa, among others). They also asked Col. Rage to find the most powerful Lemurian. They then decided they needed to 'procure' the "Air band", to secure it. Using Capt. Force's contacts in the Narrai government, they met a contact, Zypherian of the Lyrissi on a secluded mining asteroid base. Capt. Force asked Solar to use her Detect Power (from her VPP) to find the band; she did, on Lyrissi 3 (there are 3 habitable planets in the Lyrissi system). Zypherian offered a way to sneak them into the compound, but no further assistance - the heroes agreed. The next day, a House Pan Vox shipping container had arrived and Zypherian explained that the shipment would get them into the estate. The heroes climbed aboard and they were indeed deposited next to the estate. Solar used various enhances senses from her VPP to locate two very strong Z-rad sources; she then used Clairsentience from her VPP to view both. In the first they found one of the android Herold's of the Empress in a negotiation with the House Pan Tuo leadership. In the other, they found the band. Continuing to use Clairsentience, they reconnoitered and determined the best way to the vault. Capt. Force used the "Earth band" (remember, basically a 500 point VPP for any matter that is solid) to shrink himself very small, so he could ride/hide in Solar's pocket. She then used her VPP to inviso them both from just about any and all detection types, and they carefully flew to the point of entry of the vault. Capt. Force used his band to simply create a hole in the middle of the stone door, and knowing it would set off alarms, Solar flew in circles around the room until she had reached her maximum flight speed, then simply grabbed the band and they flew out of the estate. The Lyrissi on the grounds attempted to give chase, but could not perceive them (as she still had her inviso going), and the Herold attempted to give chase as well, but Solar was far too fast for him to catch her, once she could engage her FTL flight - and they successfully escaped. Arriving back on Earth, having discussed it; with her own VPP generated mental defense, and Golden Girl helping as well, Solar put the "Air band" on, and did not go insane... They then spoke to Col. Rage about the Lemurians; he said he had found one, but he was gonna be difficult. His name was Arthur Curry (The Aqua Man) - but, (just like the scene from Justice League), he wanted nothing to do with joining a group, or fighting a war... With that, the heroes decided to have a "memory movie" - they called together The Peacekeepers, Col. Rage, and the ambassadors (including 3 Europaites in containment suits); Golden Girl convinced Capt. Force to give The Aqua Man another shot, feeling if he saw the threat, he would join. So, they included him as well. Once they had everyone together, they used mental projection and showed everyone the memories of the bands, the first battle with the Empress, the scenes from the Eurupaites Oracles of her preparations, the fight with Outrider and his ships, and finally the scene of the other cosmic conqueror that Solar had seen. It was finally enough to get everyone to understand what they were up against. Capt. Force then asked Wuxing how he would fight in space, and he smiled, simply turning his body into pure photons... They asked The Aqua Man how he would, and Wuxing explained that he could use the power of the band to encapsulate himself in a water bubble and propel that through space. The heroes decided, now that they had a team, they needed to train, and since Wuxing was the only one who had trained and prepared to wield the band, he should teach them. They also decided they would have to deal with Khan Manas II... And that is where this exciting episode ended!

"Good" and "evil" are simply a group of societal norms subconsciously agreed upon by a society of people, and reinforced by additional behavior (including laws and enforcement, etc.). So, most bad guys in real life, rationalize their negative behavior. Even most mentally ill serial killers, rationalize their behavior. Hitler, rationalized his behavior. I am not saying any of them were right, or should be "understood" or sympathized with in any way; only that it is VERY HARD to actually find an example of a "villain" from real life, who actually saw themselves/their behavior as "Evil". So, to me, when I see "Utterly Evil" as a complication; I read it as a being who is the polar opposite; they literally cannot conceive of being "good" - so they're every action is "Evil", and they cannot hide it (at least not for long). As a complication for the character, there needs to be some ramifications - some consequence - so for me, I read it like their behavior is so bad, and they enjoy it so much, they cannot hide it and everyone, even the "normal" bad guys or mentally ill, see them for what they are - and that is so alien to the human mind, that they would likely either seek to destroy them or flee them (fight or flight). The Cenobites from Clive Barker (Hellraiser) and the Horror's from Earthdawn (TTRPG) are examples of beings who know they are Evil, and actually feed off the anguish they cause others - and in both cases are completely alien to the human mind.

MCU Wakanda?

Needle

Be Valorous & Courageous in your pursuit of Righteousness at all times. Show Benevolence & Selflessness in thy actions. Conduct thyself Politely & Respectfully, to those deserving. Thy word will speak nothing but truth. Uphold thy Honor by being true to these edicts, at all times, even in secret. Oppose Evil, in all its forms-Defend the innocent-Avenge victims of Evil. "Reveal to us the metal of thy character; suffer the courage of thy convictions.” Sir Robert The True

I voted for Wrongfully Convicted, Divinely Conscripted (Champions)- primarily because it holds the PCs accountable to being "heroes" - I like that idea... I had to read your longer descriptions however, because just based on the short explanation for the vote, I would not have picked it.

In the MCU as an example, and including the Netflix series; while they often showed modern cell phones, tablets, computers, etc. (with the assumed apps as well) - and the heroes even used them (especially in the Netflix series), it never impacted the movies one way or another - they were just there, like they are in real life - and didn't change a thing. That is how I handle it in my game - the tech has stayed current, but it doesn't change anything. In fact, if you read any of the recent episodes of my game <link>, you'll note that I gave one of the heroes an "UNTIL super-phone", that works interplanetary (I didn't even attempt to explain it) - and it has only aided my game... In the last episode in fact, they did an intergalactic video call, which I again didn't even attempt to explain.... It was cool "window dressing" though, everyone liked it... I also find it interesting, the whole vigilante concept from movies/TV - it was quaint years ago - but now, with PMCs (Private Military Contractors or Companies) on every corner, and any private firm able to employ them, not to mention high-end security specialists (used to be called body guards back in the day), who specialize in "full-spectrum security" (meaning social media, hacking defense, drone defense, physical defense, etc.), not to mention all the websites that think they're making the world safer ("outing" supposed pedophiles, sexual predators, etc.); I find the concept that a "super hero" would be labeled a "vigilante" a little absurd. I think it would be really interesting to see how the modern world would actually react; citizen arrests are still "legal"... Mercenaries have been around since ancient times, and no one has really done anything to curb that activity, in any meaningful way ("Soldier of fortune" indeed). I think the government would react more like they did in the MCU and DCEU - feeling threatened by supers, as if they were a military risk or threat to national security. That would lead to an interesting response over time I imagine...

In our fourth exciting episode --> Capt. Force explains to Solar that Narrai Prime and the other planets/moons/asteroids the Narrai have colonized in their system have 24 times Earth Gravity (25Gs) - which is why the Narrai species is so heavily muscled and dense; this requires Solar to use some of her VPP to increase her density in order to survive. Our heroes fly to Narrai space, and go to a mining colony where Capt. Force's original mentor in the rebellion (from his backstory) lives. They discuss what all is going on with the pending invasion and the artifact from Coullum The First (the Narrai hero from 7500 years ago, who had the "Earth" band). The mentor does some electronic digging, and finds that the rebel cell that operates in the Great Go-Shibbi desert on Narrai Prime, have reported a recent expansion of an archeology site, where some of the Science Caste have recently erected barriers with military support, and that they heard it has something to do with Coullum The First. Our heroes travel to the desert and are surprised to find a wall erected around an area, where the sand has been excavated from; in this area are ruins from long ago, dominated by a large arena with a large statue at one end. Solar uses her VPP enhanced senses and sees the "Earth" band in the palm of the large statue. The heroes land at a large tent erected near the arena, and encounter the lead scientist of the dig. After speaking to him for a few moments, it is clear to the heroes that he is being affected by the band. He describes how Narrai have come from all over the system, in order to attempt to claim the band - whenever anyone sets foot in the arena, another Narrai always steps in to fight them. The scientist is super excited to study this phenomenon and admits he hasn't really reported everything to his superiors in the Science Caste, because he wants so badly to be here to study whomever actually can claim the band. He further explains that every time there has been a victor, but every time that victor claims the band, they have gone insane, and have had to be killed by the military. As they are discussing this, 3 Narrai assault ships land outside the enclosure. Leading a squad of heavily armed and armored troops into the enclosure is Sgt. Roc-12, one of the most highly decorated Special Forces members in the entire Narrai military. He is clearly making his way directly to the arena; and the scientist is almost giddy with anticipation. Capt. Force steps in front of Sgt. Roc-12 and asks him why he is there. Sgt. Roc-12 explains that he is there for the band. Capt. Force asks if he is aware there will be a fight to claim it, and Sgt. Roc-12 simply says, "Of course there will be." Capt. Force also asks if he is aware that if he does win, he may go insane if he claims it? Sgt. Roc-12 acts almost insulted, claiming that will of course not happen to him, once he claims it. After a quick conversation, the heroes realize that it may not be a good thing either way, so Capt. Force decides to follow Sgt. Roc-12 into the arena. As Sgt. Roc-12 enters, a random Worker Caste Narrai in the stands gets up as if he was going to enter the arena as well, but when Capt. Force enters, he simply sits back down. Once Capt. Force enters, a barrier springs up, encompassing the entire floor of the arena. Immediately Sgt. Roc-12 draws a fighting knife, and prepares to fight. Sgt. Roc-12 tries several times, but never lands a blow - initially Capt. Force martial throws Sgt. Roc-12 into the barrier; when that doesn't do enough to slow him down, Capt. Force then does a nerve strike, which also only slightly injures Sgt. Roc-12. Eventually, Capt. Force has to use his "Killer Laser" punch (his highest HTH attack), which knocks Sgt. Roc-12 across the arena and into the barrier, almost knocking him out. Capt. Force finishes him off with another nerve strike. As Sgt. Roc-12 falls, the barrier comes down. His squad moves to take him to medical, and Solar flies down to meet with Capt. Force, who has taken the band from the statue. As they are discussing their next move, several Narrai assault ships begin arriving, and the troops that arrived with Sgt. Roc-12 appear to get radio messages, and start to secure the perimeter around the arena; apparently the Narrai military isn't so good with Capt. Force just leaving with the band... Capt. Force makes the hasty decision to slap the band on his wrist... A massive influx of Z-Rad power courses through Capt. Force's veins, and he experiences the origins of the band, and their time they were together, then the rest of the entire history of the "Earth" band, up until now. The band makes a mental attack, however, Solar remembered to provide mental defense to Capt. Force, and because of that, he was able to survive the bands assault, and keep his sanity (barely). But, before anyone can do anything, a massive ship wormholes into low orbit, launching hundreds of fighter ships. The ship then fires a beam to the ground, and something travels down the beam, landing with such impact, that the 3 assault ships that had landed are destroyed, as are several of the military members who were nearby. Once the beam stops, and the dust settles, there is a huge Narrai-like warrior standing there. He yells above the din of destruction, "I am an Outrider, of the Black Order; The Empress demands the band, hand it over barbarians, you don't even know what you're dealing with…" The Narrai military begins attacking this new fleet, while Outrider calmly stalks into the enclosure. Capt. Force scans Outrider, and discovers he is massively powerful, and will likely be a difficult fight for both our heroes. Capt. Force orders the military nearby to evacuate the enclosure, and tells Solar not to hold back. Solar is the fastest of the three, so she flies up to Outrider. After much discussion of various options by the players, it is decided that Solar will use her VPP to increase her density to maximum, and then put the remaining point in a straight increase to her STR; this gives her a total punch of 55D6! Solar rolls her punch, and hits. She then rolls her damage; doing substantial damage with the punch alone - then we calculate the knockback, in which Outrider crashes through several vehicles and other structures, before eventually hitting the enclosure wall, almost 90 yards away. This damage results in knocking Outrider out completely! Capt. Force then uses the "Earth" (solid matter) band (which has a massive VPP of 500 points, restricted to only work on solid matter), to Transform 2 meters of all the alien fighter ships, into bubble wrap... Causing all 500 ships to crash at once. With this, the massive ship beams the unconscious Outrider back aboard, and wormholes out of Narrai space. Having survived the battle, the heroes grab one of the enemy pilots (a lizard like alien), and take him with them, to the capital city of Narrai Prime - there they speak to the ambassador they originally warned about the Empress' return. After explaining that now everyone can see what the threat is, they call for a video conference with Col. Rage from Earth, and the ambassador from Lyrissi as well. Once they have them on holo-vid, Capt. Force plays a replay of the battle to the group, then explains that everyone should now see how they need to work together. Col. Rage agrees and says they will continue to prepare and keep the two bands on Earth safe. The Lyrissi ambassador explains that they do not know where the "Air" band is... Though they agree they will search for it. The heroes discuss their next move; Capt. Force decides he wants to ask Golden Girl to accompany them back to Europa, returning the drone that was left on Earth and see if he can convince the Europaites to join cause. They then figure they will need to follow-up with the Lyrissi, to determine what the status is of the "Air" band. And that is where this exciting episode ends!

I love the concept and backstory. The technical concept does remind me mostly of Deathlok (the OG Deathlok, from the comics). As for decent concepts of point averages to use, I cobbled this list together from other threads (this info came from others), many years ago, when I was struggling with the concept of how to maintain balance in character creation; it may help: I'm not sure how much is too much to post, so here's the guidelines for 6E Standard Superheroic: Characteristics: 10-40 SPD: 3-10 CV: 7-13 DC: 6-14 Active Points: 40-80 Skill Points: 25-80 Skill Roll: 11-15- Def/rDef: 20-25/12-18 Short version: For standard 400-point superheroes, 6ed recommends Powers generally run from 40-80 AP; defenses should run 20-25 with 12-18 resistant, OCV & DCV should run in the 7-13 range, and typical Damage Classes should be around 6-14. These are absolutely just guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules; they don't necessarily prohibit a character with an OCV of 14 and a 15 DC attack, but they signal to both Player and GM that such a power is above the normal range and thus deserving of a closer look. Does that help? In my experience, to get a good balance in the game, characters should meet these basic standards: 1) They have enough Defense + Con to take an average attack without being Stunned. So if your average attack is 12D6 (42 Stun), 20 Def and 23 Con is about as fragile as you'd want to get. Weaker than that and you're very vulnerable to being knocked out of the fight. 2) They have enough Defense + Stun to take 2-3 average attacks without being knocked unconscious. So with your 12D6 (42 Stun) average, about 20 Def and 45 Stun or 25 Def and 40 Stun is about as low as you'd want to get. 3) You want to have some amount of resistant defense and/or special defenses (power defense, mental defense, flash defense) if those powers are going to come up with any regularity. You do not have to have a lot of the special defenses, because those attacks are rare, but if you are going to be hit by them once a battle, or once every other battle, you should have something to ensure you are not neutered by them. 5 points of special defenses is usually enough to take the edge off. 4) Beware of powers that can take down an enemy in one shot. Any type of unusual power combination (megascale teleport usable as an attack) can end up disrupting the game. Continuous Uncontrolled NNDs and the like can be quite difficult to stop. Anything that has more than a +1 advantage probably needs to be looked at closely -- it might be fine, it might be woefully ineffective, or it could be amazing. 5) Speed ranges should be within about 2 of one another. If the campaign average is 6, then a guy with a 3 speed is going to be very bored during the game. A guy with a 9 speed is going to make everyone else bored. 6) OCV/DCV more than 3 outside the average can be difficult to deal with. If I have an OCV of 8, and the villain has a DCV of 12, it will be very difficult for me to hit him. There are ways around this (spreading an attack, a brick throwing a car at him, etc), but it will require taking extra measures.

In our third exciting episode --> Solar and Capt. Force decide they are not going to split up, even though they know that MasterMind will have time to manipulate the relic. They fly to Kansas City and see 'Zerk tearing it apart! After a few minutes strategizing, they come up with a game-plan; Capt. Force goes down and engages 'Zerk to hold him still, while Solar uses her VPP to create a Gate under him, gating him 24 klicks into space. The plan works; while Capt. Force's move-through attack did no damage, it did get 'Zerk's attention long enough for Solar (who had held her action) to open a gate below 'Zerk and teleport him into space. As the heroes started helping victims, suddenly they hear the sound of rocket thrusters and there is a loud metallic clank sound from behind them. They turn and see a man in a suit of red and silver power battle-armor. "Easy there Big-man star-field and Roman Candle… He's one of ours." Says the man in the armor. Solar and Capt. Force do not immediately react, but as they are deciding what to do, a woman with golden metallic skin also lands next to the man in the armor, and says "Silvercloud, stop being a jerk." As she speaks, a gate opens behind her, and a large man in Viking armor, with a shield and sword steps through, then a woman who looks like a cross between a human female and a Jaguar, another woman in a skin-tight power suit in a lion motif, and finally an Asian man in traditional monk garb steps through the gate as it closes behind him. The Golden Girl announces that they are the PeaceKeepers; a UN sponsored super-group of Earth's Greatest Heroes. They explain that 'Zerk is a member of their team, and that Col. Rage called them after he sent our heroes to deal with 'Zerk. (The PeaceKeepers are my version of The Avengers in my gameworld, but are more global: Silver Centurion, aka Jonathon Silvercloud = Tony Stark/Forge crossover, Iron Man - from USA 'Zerk, aka Dr. Morgan Whitiker = Dr. Banner (who looks like a cross between a younger Morgan Freeman and Forest Whitiker)/Hulk - from USA Golden Girl, aka Heather Cameroon = looks like LifeGuard, but other than her nano-skin armor, is a mentalist and former SAS agent; tactical leader of the team - from Australia (Capt. America/Black Widow) Tyr = based on the Norse God, a human "God of old", who left with his other "Gods" to another planet before the transition of Earth back over the threshold, then came back to Earth to protect it once it crossed back over - from Europe The Jaguar, aka Maria de Guzman = superheroine who is a ware-jaguar - super-regen, deadly fighter (Sabretooth analog) - from Brazilian Lioness, aka Queen Ramonda = Black Panther, queen of kingdom that is the home to Z-radmium, a metal that stores and manipulates Z-rad - damage shield suit - from Africa Wuxian (Immortal Shaman) = Keeper of the Immortal Flame Ur Tsing ("Fire" band), cross between Shang Chi and Dr. Strange - from Tibet) Capt. Force and Solar take their queue to leave the recovery to the PeaceKeepers and head to MasterMind's base. Before they go, Capt. Force asks Solar to use her detection again to sense the "generator" - when she does, she discovers it is no longer at the base. The heroes decide to go ahead and go to the base, to look for clues. When they arrive at Gull Island in northern Lake Michigan, Solar scans the base and they find no living beings there. Capt. Force has her use x-ray vision to learn the layout (there are 40 floors below the surface of the island), and to look for power sources - she finds several, including one using large amounts of Z-rad. The team flies down to the base, being attacked by a large swarm of armed drones; however, they are not powerful enough to stop them, so they blow through them as they approach. The touchscreen on the door has an AI face, who tells them they are trespassing on private property and should leave before he responds with more force. At that announcement, Capt. Force punches the doors off their hinges into the building. The AI defense system responds with more bullets and some laser weapons as well, but none are powerful enough to slow down our heroes. Capt. Force asks Solar to interface with the computer system and get a schematic of the base; she does so (VPP) and they learn that the control room is on the 4th level, and the large power source is the vault. They go to the control room first, where Solar again interfaces with the computer system, and learns that MasterMind has taken the relic to his secret base on the dark side of the moon. After contacting Col. Rage and telling him what's going on, they fly to the moon and find the base. As Col. Rage was unaware MasterMind even had a secret base there, they take picture with the UNTIL super-phone and text them to Rage. Solar scans the base, and finds 6 living beings in the base. After discussing the right way to go about infiltrating the base, they decide to have Solar desolidify and inviso, and go in to recon and see if she can find out what's going on. She does so, passing 4 costumed villains on her way down. When she reaches the lab, she finds MasterMind and Black Mist ending a conversation, at which point Black Mist teleports away. After stepping around the corner, to an unseen location in the base, Solar contacts Capt. Force and he teleports to her location; at which point she immediately makes him invisible also. They discuss a plan, and settle on Capt. Force flying over invisibly, and simply grabbing the relic and teleporting back to DC, to take it to Col. Rage. Solar stays behind for a moment, to see the reaction; as the alarms go off and MasterMind begins to react, one of the team of The Fearsome Foursome zooms in immediately (she is obviously a speedster). The rest arrive moments latter on the elevator. Solar take that as her queue to leave, flying back to DC. Capt. Force is reviewing the box, as he flies to the UNTIL HQ. Inside the now open box, he finds a band with the markings of water on it. He scans it and can tell it is immensely powerful, and something to do with the manipulation of liquid. He and Solar arrive on the roof of UNITL and speak to Col. Rage. Solar remembers seeing a band just like this one, on the wrist of the Asian member of the PeaceKeepers, Wuxing. After speaking to Col. Rage for a bit, they fly out into space; where Capt. Force contemplates putting on the band. After much discussion, where one of Solar's concerns is that activating the band may alert other cosmic entities to them, they decide he will simply stay there in space, while she goes and speaks to Wuxing, while using telepathy with Capt. Force so he can participate in the discussion. Solar flies to Tibet and arrives at the monastery where Wuxing lives. He meets her and tells her he was expecting her. They discuss the bands, and learn that the band he has controls "fire" (plasma). He explains that his sect has had the band since the last battle with the Empress, and they have kept it safe. He was selected as the one; the bearer of the band, after many ordeals and trials. He has trained his whole life to be able to bear the band. He explains that putting it on causes a massive influx of power and can drive most people insane. So, if there was a concern that activating the band would alert a cosmic entity, that "horse had already left the barn". After further discussion, where Wuxing explains that Tyr was at the last great battle, the heroes decide they need to discuss this with the whole team, so they ask Wuxing to arrange a meeting of the PeaceKeepers. He agrees and gates to gather the team, saying they will meet at Silvercloud's tower in NY. The heroes also call Col. Rage to meet there as well. When the heroes arrive, they explain everything going on, and ask Tyr to tell everyone the story of the past battle. Tyr tells them all the story; but no one, including him believes that the Empress could come back, and even if it was possible, no one knows how they would unite the three systems peoples to prepare to oppose her. Capt. Force asks Tyr what happened to the other bands? Tyr explains that the "Earth" band went back to Narrai Prime with the Narrai hero who was it's wielder, and the "Air" band went back to Lyrissi 3 with it's wielder. Eventually, they decide to take Golden Girl (who is a mentalist) to the Europaites. There she convinces them to "show her" what their Oracles saw. After some additional discussion, they return to NY, where Golden Girl projects into everyone's minds, what she saw (which is not only the preparation of the Empress' armada and legion for her return, but the fact that she populated whole planets with humans in order to study them and prepare for her next conquest). Capt. Force then asks them what their plan is? Col. Rage explains that he will work politically to try to convince the UN/earth to prepare. The PeaceKeepers explain they will work to prepare as well. With that, Capt. Force decides to leave the water band with Col. Rage; so Silvercloud whips up a tech-box that will contain and shield the band from "prying eyes". Though all of this, Capt. Force struggled with whether or not to give the band to the Europaites - however, after learning that the original wielder of the "water" band was a Lemurian earthling; though still concerned that the Europaites would again be enslaved as no one seems to have much stake in defending them, he decided to give it to UNTIL for now; though he declared he would keep Europa as a priority in his defense of this sector of the galaxy. Capt. Force and Solar decide they will go to Narrai next, to try to track down the "Earth" band - and that is where this exciting episode ends...

I'd love anyone's thoughts on 'Zerk - as the next episode is tomorrow (Saturday night, 06/26)...

Um, it's Allegory; a literary device, an allegory is a narrative in which a character, place, or event is used to deliver a broader message about real-world issues and occurrences. It is not intended to be a documentary or logical, realistic representation of real-world issues or occurrences. It is simply designed to use the allegory to draw a parallel, in order to make a point. Different writers over the 40+ years of the "anti-mutant movement" in Marvel, are by default going to be inconsistent, and change or adapt as society evolves over those 40+ years... And will continue.

I just did a 2000 point "Hulk" <link> for my game, to give you an idea of how over-the-top these types of characters are...

I give you 'ZERK (The Berzerker!) (3-page character sheet attached.) Gonna be a tough fight! (If they go head-to-head with him...) 'Zerk.pdf

We played tonight - I had added two more powers (total 18) to the list - it worked great!

Per another thread, I figured out a way to pre-make 18 different powers for Solar's VPP, so we're not creating them on the fly - it worked great. In our second exciting episode --> The heroes first have a conversation in space - introducing each other, learning a little about each other's backgrounds and figuring out that they're going to work together. They then head to Europa. Solar providing mental defense to both of them from her VPP, having learned in the last episode that the aliens are mentalists. Upon landing, they decide not to burn through the ice and come in like bulls in a china shop - instead, they simply wait on the ice above the largest concentration of lifeforms (Solar using her VPP to scan for lifeforms on the planet). Eventually, two aliens approach (Solar has her Spatial Awareness and Danger Sense from her VPP turned on). Capt. Force speaks out to the aliens, using the famous line; "We come in peace, take me to your leader." (Which killed us all with laughter). An alien drone steps out of cover, speaking in a gruff voice - asking why they are there. After some diplomatic small talk, suddenly the drone's voice completely changes, to a nicer, feminine voice. The heroes realize the other alien hiding, is a warrior class, who was originally speaking through the drone, but then one of the leaders takes over. After a lengthy discussion with the aliens, the heroes learn that the Europaites want the return of the captured drone, their ship, their relic, and technologies from the Narrai and Lyrissi (Z-rad powered weapons and wormhole generators). While Capt. Force and Solar are trying to be sympathetic to the Europaites plight, it become apparent after the speaker attacks them mentally, trying to force them to do what they ask - that there is an issue of culture that will be an ongoing problem; the Europaites society is based on everyone being linked mentally, not exactly hive mind, but they think as a whole, for the entire species. They are lead by a counsel, and the woman talking through the drone is their spokesmen, Octassia. Because their society is always linked mentally, they do not understand the concept of individuality as we do. To them, the concept of "listening" is the same as doing what the counsel wants (what you're being told to do, mentally). It is clear, after the Europaites ask the heroes to bring the leaders of their nations to a summit, that really they just want less powerful beings they can force to do as they ask. O1H the heroes want to be able to "see" mentally, what the Europaites Oracles saw of the impending invasion, but doing so means opening your mind to them. The heroes leave, unsure how they are going to coordinate with the Europaites. The heroes decide to return to earth and take a look at the relic. They land at the mall in DC, and head toward the Smithsonian. Two men in black suites, with black ties and sunglasses, and white shirts, approach them. They introduce themselves as Agent Mikkelsen and Johansson, of UNTIL, the United Nations Tribunal on Intergalactic Law (I brought in UNTIL, but changed them a little - basically my version of SHIELD, the Intergalactic part fits better with this game-world). After a short discussion, they take the heroes to meet their Director - Col. Richard (Dick) Rage (OG Nick Fury). The heroes and Dir. Rage have a conversation, figuring out who everyone is, what's going on, and what the heroes found out from the Europaites. Eventually they all decide to head down to the Smithsonian to see the relic (known as the Generator to the Europaites). Upon arrival, they learn there's been an "event". The curator and head of security show surveillance video of where the relic was in storage. The video shows a black clad "Ninja" teleport into the area, use some sort of Z-rad powered device to unlock the enclosure, take out the relic and then teleport away. The team all head down to the area, where Solar uses her VPP and various senses to scan the area - they determine that the villain used SURGE'd powers to teleport, and Z-rad powered tech to unlock the enclosure. Capt. Force tells Solar to use her VPP detect powers to find the relic - she does, and it is in northern Lake Michigan. Col. Rage exclaims, "Oh, great" and explains that Gull Island in Lake Michigan is the known lair of a super-powerful villain named MasterMind! UNTIL also determines that the teleporting ninja is a mercenary (likely just hired by MasterMind), known as Black Mist. He explains that MasterMind is not only personally powerful, but leads a team of villains known as The Fearsome Foursome. Col. Rage takes Agent Mikkelsen's UNTIL super-phone and resets it, setting it up for Solar and gives it to her, so they can all communicate. Just as they're talking about what they're going to do, all the UNTIL phones go off with an alert - A 'ZERK ALERT! Col. Rage quickly explains that Dr. Morgan Whitaker is a mild-mannered scientist who was studying Z-rad, early after earth crossed the threshold, when an experiment at the Large Hadron Collider caused him to be exposed to massive levels of Z-rad; Dr. Whitaker became, THE BERZERKER! The monster commonly referred to as 'Zerk, is immensely powerful (OG Green Hulk) and completely uncontrollable. Luckily, Dr. Whitaker is a peaceful, nice human being, who has tried to repress 'Zerk. There have only been a few outbreak 'Zerk events - however, this time 'Zerk is beyond consoling, and is tearing Kansas City apart; and UNTIL doesn't know what to do… They need the heroes help! Zerk looks like OG Raging Hulk, with the glowing gold coloration of Nuklo - Capt. Force immediately notes that something setoff 'Zerk, and he wonders if it could be MasterMind trying to create a diversion. The heroes talk about if they should split up or not... And that's how this week's exciting episode ends!

I actually figured out a good way - I just created a second character in Hero Designer, called Solar VPP; then just made 16 various powers of appropriate levels, then created the PDF, and only printed the second page with the powers on it - worked just fine!

Anyone know a easy way to make a list of powers for a VPP? My wife has a 240 point VPP, with 120 point Control Cost. Per my notes from our last game, I should have taken the advice from the book and pre-made several powers, so we were not having to do so "on the fly". Anyone know an easy way to make a list of powers? I have a spreadsheet of the character sheet, which does some of the math for you, and I have Hero Designer - I thought of just expanding the power list from the spreadsheet, to take up a whole sheet of paper (though clunky), or was wondering if there was an easy way to do it in Hero Designer? Or, if anyone else knows of another way to do it?

If you substitute the word racism for bigotry in your statement; which your definition of "a mean, nasty group hated..." does, then perhaps it is more accurate. I would challenge that bigotry, or bias IS more universal.

A bit of clarification, that may help (or not). Stan Lee specifically noted that the principle behind the mutant plight, and the main two leaders, was to draw a parallel between the civil rights struggles; with Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. In order to "hide the irony", Professor X would be MLK and Magneto would be Malcom X. The concept was to show the two ways one can try to overcome the civil right oppression of the majority; either peacefully or militantly. So, one of the reasons that the mutant plight rang true (at least in America, but to a lessor degree world-wide), is because it was mirroring struggles that were really happening (and still do). It didn't need to make logical sense in regards to why "altered humans" or aliens were not treated the same way. The point was that unlike an altered human or alien, mutants were born that way, and thus had no say in their plight - so, somehow people had to just "know", so the analogy would work. In fact, the fact that altered humans or aliens are accepted and mutants (who were born that way and had no say) are not, makes the whole parable that much more heart churning. Finally, another aspect not mentioned by others (which the point I've made above does not contradict, but only explains the "why"), is that most mutants express their powers around puberty - and have no training how to use them, so many are angst-ridden teenagers, with powers they can't control - not a very safe or comfortable prospect (for "normals"). My $.02.

The thing I always find good about an "official" Marvel RPG, is that it gives you stats you can compare between their heroes, to help convert them more "officially" to Champions... That's why I put that link in this thread.