Echo3Niner

So, now I’m thinking 4 “bands”, like Quasars Quantum Bands - but each related to a state of matter. And, instead of being offensive, they provide defense against their namesakes. This way, with only two characters, they have to choose which two bands each wears (and thus gets protection from).

I get to choose? Depends on my mood I suppose; either: A Q from Star Trek - He is an extra-dimensional being of unknown origin who possesses immeasurable power over time, space, the laws of physics, and reality itself, being capable of altering it to his whim. Despite his vast knowledge and experience spanning untold eons (and much to the exasperation of the object(s) of his obsession), he is not above practical jokes for his own personal amusement, for a Machiavellian and manipulative purpose, or to prove a point. He is said to be almost omnipotent and he is continually evasive regarding his true motivations. A Czarnian with exceptional strength and fortitude. He enjoys nothing better than mindless violence and intoxication, and killing is an end in itself; his name roughly translates as "he who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it." He is arrogant and self-centered, focusing almost solely on his own pleasures, although he proudly lives up to the letter of his promises – but always no more or no less than what he promised. The last of his kind, having committed complete genocide by killing all the other Czarnians for fun.

Taking the approach of several here - I'd go with a bit more of an X-com approach; slow-roll, trying to get countries (governments &/or the populous) to align, so that when she finally does invade, making her "grand statement", it's basically over before it begins, because she has so much backing of various groups on earth to make "resistance futile"...

At this point, I'm thinking of 4 (possibly 5) MacGuffins that relate to either: The 4 states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, plasma The 4 fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear (and a possible 5th: Quintessence, or Dark Energy, which sounds very comic'booky) I think either of these would make good basis for linked MacGuffins that would have power each, but "ultimate power" when combined... The states of matter are a little easier to think of in terms of comic book effects (almost as simple as the 4 elements of earth, water, air and fire). The fundamental forces sound cool, but coming up with effects for strong and weak nuclear seems a little more difficult...

I like this - using the mythology created for my game'verse, and since the Empress is Immortal, she could have attempted to invade during the last time earth was on the other side of the void (pre ~3100BCE), when the Z-rad empowered heroes were considered Gods. They could have hidden away these rune-stones (or whatever I decide to call them) to protect later generations from a future invasion. I like the idea of the Infinity Stones, because unlike the mysterious MacGuffins noted above, they have an known incremental effect - so you're not just dealing with a one-time event, such as keys or other things that in-and-of-themselves have no effect but to gain access to the ultimate MacGuffin - instead, each battle for each of the components has a real affect of either strengthening the advisory or the heroes. The twist with this mythology is that the MacGuffins can help STOP the invasion or at least hinder it; and so in an opposite twist to the Infinity Stones, the heroes are trying to find them, to gain the power to stop the Empress, and she is sending her minions to try to keep them away from the heroes. So, I've now got the history (origin) aspect - now I just need to think about something like the Infinity Stones, that isn't just an obvious rip-off of the actual Infinity Stones... Individual MacGuffins, that have power of their own, but when united become an ultimate power... Thank you all for you help so far, and please keep the ideas coming...

OK, so I'm (re)starting a Champions campaign, based on my Earth, 2030 setting <link>; my plan, is after getting the players to settle into their cosmic-powered characters with a few "normal" games, I'll start to seed the campaign with minions of the Empress coming to Earth (and perhaps the other two alien's systems) to find "something" (the MacGuffin(s). These are to serve the same purpose as the Infinity Stones in the MCU or the Mother Boxes in the DCEU; very powerful items, the heroes do not want the Empress to have. I plan to try to keep the MacGuffins secret for as long as possible, having the players uncover that there is an actual conspiracy to gather them prior to the Empress' arrival (I don't even want the characters to know about her either, but to discover that she's coming as they go along in the campaign also) - it'll be a big reveal at some point, as many beings will be fleeing her (causing their own chaos in their wake), so to get the players/characters to be worried/scared before they even face her in any real way. In my campaign, the Empress' main motivation is to enslave the galaxy; much like the Roman Empire, she feels she's bringing order, peace and civilization to the barbarians - so she's the hero in her 'story' (or head; of course, aren't they all)... So, what is she sending her minions to gather? I've decided they can be either (keys to the?) super-powerful MacGuffin(s) (or are they the MacGuffins themselves?) she needs to help her enslave the populous (e.g., the afore mentioned Infinity Stones or Mother Boxes, or One Ring for that matter) - OR - they could be (keys to the?) the one thing that could defeat her, and she wants them gathered so they cannot be used against her (she may collect them, or try to destroy them, or whatever). Whatever they are, they just "awoke" when the Earth crossed the threshold (per my setting's mythology), which is what got her attention and answers the "why now?" question. So, anyone have any good ideas for what she's looking for?

Literally just got this pitched as a character concept: "I watched this I want to play that. Steven Segal. Capt. Force – intergalactic defender. My powers, beyond all the space survival, are “frustrating fighting”. I can charm you into attacking me “come get some” as I do not know how to attack (siren). And I can dodge or block just about every blow or ranged melee attack (daredevil, but not gymnaticky, more Remo Williams/Segal). range projectile, energy beams, etc, im susceptible to but ill be tough. and if the opponent uses a melee weapon I can take it and kill them with it (Task Master). Capt. Force name is many leveled meaning. I want a concussion (force a la Cyclops eyes) energy thing. I can force people/creatures to attack me. And I can force you to do what I want when you lose. All used as a force for good. I almost think of this as Mojo sees me, Segal, in a movie, and cant believe it. So he takes me to Mojo World and amps my gifts to intergalactic levels. But like Longshot, I escape and use my powers for good. When you flesh this all out, send it to Marvel and Ryan Reynolds to make a movie."

Thanks Tjack. This was really just about getting folks thoughts on the "game'verse" (setting and mythology). Back in 2014 we ran a series of test games, as a couple of us had played Champions 4e WAY back, but the rest had never played it. Then, life intervened, and the campaign never got off the ground. I've moved from the DC area back to the mid-West (Northern Indiana, just south of the MI boarder). I have not looked for a group here, so it's just my long-time player/best friend who plays via Zoom from MI (except every blue moon when we're together), and my wife, so small group, and no drama. This time around, they have decided they want to play 'Galaxy-class' superheroes (e.g. Silver Surfer, Binary, Beta-ray Bill, etc.). So, I intend to get the game going slowly, let it build a little, let them settle into their characters, and then I'll bring in the Empress invasion. I have created the Intra-Galactic Quasar Corps (IGQC) as a galaxy-spanning superhero organization, who will oppose The Empress - which these two characters will eventually be introduced to. So no real "action required" on the part of the forum at this point; mostly just sharing... If you look at some of my old posts, you'll see I have a lot of questions at times, but I'll post specific threads for those. Thanks for asking.

"Holy resurrection Bat Man!" Yes, after 7+ years, we're about to resurrect this campaign world! Making new characters tomorrow!

Sonic Whip, the Immortal of Mars!

Better than all the generators I found on the web!

This isn't so much about xCV caps and game balance. In some thread there was discussion about "reversing" the 11- concept. It's more an issue of 11- base giving you only 10 numbers with which to maneuver, so some one had talked about simply making it 11+, which give you theoretically an unlimited number range to work in. I don't remember the details, but that was part of the "why" xCV's had to be managed so carefully, where if you had a broader range, it would be less of an issue. Again, I don't remember the details, hence the thread asking the question. If no one remembers or knows what I'm talking about, no biggy, just thought I'd ask.

So, I've read in various posts about how people have tried different house rules to address the 11- to hit methodology. It appears, per many conversations, that the mechanic of 11- is just not very adaptable to various situations, and that if your defense or offense is too high it can seriously unbalance a game. What I'd like to know, is what mechanic modification have you made to address this?

I voted other. What I really like, is a "theme" book; with tons of plot line elements that a GM can either weave together to make a whole campaign, or just use to help fill in a game. Material on a place and cultural element. Example: Chicago Underworld. With information about the city, and all the organized criminal elements within. Each section, besides giving great ambiance and themetic principles for a GM to pull from, also has local NPC's for use in that area, and plot elements of what those folks are up to. Making it a "living document", by just posting about what's going on at a point in time, keeps the game fresh and makes it feel alive; like even if the characters were not there or involved, these things would be happening. Covering the larger strategic elements of the OC crime leaders and a "5 year plan" for each, helps a GM integrate what these "families" will be doing going forward into their campaigns as well.

Luther Vandross & Cheryl Lynn If This World Were Mine

Triple post for the win!

I have not read this thread. I just wanted everyone to know that when I just read the title, I read "bikini combat ideas"... I was like "Oh, this aught to be good..." I thought someone was going to get serious explaining how female super-heroines costumes worked! Major disappointment.

I'll also add the "tactician", who thinks they can always plan every encounter down to the second, and if everyone just does their job, and the dice don't go the wrong way, everything should always come out smelling like roses. (And these planning sessions can take longer than the actual combat...) Conversely, I also have had the "combat monster" variant, who can't take more than the basics of the plan, then when the others are taking too long, they kick the door in. He wasn't always looking for combat, but when the time came, he couldn't be bothered by more than the most basic planning. Those two in the same group, make for some lively games I must say... Last but not least, the "bullet sponge", who thinks his character's role is to be the target, so that everyone else can do their part. They always seem to be surprised when they take too many bullets, and die; especially in Shadowrun... ("But, I'm a Troll, I have huge Body and great armor!" - "Yes, and they have lots of bullets, which they shot into you, some even had armor piercing rounds, so eventually, even your huge Troll died, sorry.")

I have a couple who are the "MMO'ers" - players who learned to play from MMO's, and so "grinding" or "farming" is what they think the combats are; opportunities for XP. A mission? It's a quest, and if they don't think it's part of the main story, it's a "side quest". Their entire focus is building their character, but not in the lawyer or rapist way, just wanting more and more XP, so they can get to the "end" and have a "maxed out" character... MMO'ers don't translate to the best players, if the rest are old school P&P RPG'ers... Their drive to just "keep going" doesn't give my other players time to do anything for their own character, cause it doesn't "move the game along" (to the next helping of XP) in the MMO'ers opinion. Also, I have the "Investigator" who isn't a huge roleplayer exactly, but always has investigatory skills and wants to know the "why" behind everything...

Phoenix could have killed the Beyonder or Galactus; it's not a question... Rachael by the way, so the "weaker" Phoenix at that. Both are in the comics, and in fact after Galactus scolded her about it, made a significant change in how she used her powers...

Pay attention to the price/age...

I know I would say for my players, it's more about their character's story arch, and the eventual limitations of a gameworld to inhabit characters that are eventually Uberpowerful. Because we play every other week/once a month minimum, for about 6-8 hours straight, and our campaigns tend to run a year plus, by the time we've gotten deep into the game, the characters are usually fairly high-powered for whatever gameworld we're in. So when the storyline ends, it's kinda weird to have these super-legendary uberheroes just kinda wondering the countryside. It is usually about finishing a storyline, not "winning" or ending even. We have on occasion gone back and revisited characters in a new campaign, that starts the characters in new adventures. Like a sequel. So, like Ninja-Bear said above; for us, more like completing the LoTR or Star Wars trilogy, so the story has completed, at least for now...

Thanks. Now that I've got my juices flowing, a couple ideas came to mind; first, the concept of Magneto vs. Prof. X, and the mutant issue. That could work in my campaign world, with some twists. Talking Star Wars, got me thinking of the Emperor and Vader, which led me to Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet and what Marvel is doing with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU); which I think has got me on that same track your talking about. So, just posting all this mess outta my brain-housing group has helped me, so thank you all. Any additional ideas/thoughts are still welcome.

So, in re-reading this whole thread, I had some ideas, when trying to come up with some examples; so let me add a little something to the question. I also want this campaign long storyline to be "superheroy". As I was thinking about examples, the first things that came to my mind, were Watchmen and Spawn. Both have campaign long storyarchs; the problem is, they are both very dark, and remind me much more of the atmosphere of Cyberpunk than superheros. I think I could come up with something sinister behind the scenes, that would work, but frankly I'd lose the thing that separates superhero games from other genres, which is the black and white, light heartidness of it. One of my ole-time players was just explaining to a newer player, why he loved playing Champions or Star Wars sometimes over ED and SR; his point was that superheros and Star Wars, while having "evil" in them, did not have the same level of "darkness" that typical Cyberpunk (SR in this case) games have. So, while I want this supercool, intricate, elaborate, campaign-long storyline for my Champions campaign, I also want it to stay with the general "feel" of a superhero storyline, and not devolve into something it's not (or shouldn't be). And by the way; thank you for all of your help, and sorry if I'm asking a bit much here...