dialNforNinja

Well, talking about character concepts was part of selling the game, so I have a start on that already - cooking-themed martial artist, goo-person shape changer, generic speedster (who at least claims to understand that they're not going to be living in bullet time like The Flash due to needing to let everyone else actually do stuff,) and a bug controller who also has some martial arts. GMPC is a previous-gen power armor user who's mostly retired but supplies the super-base/pilots the team vehicle and can be called in for support if I over do it with the opposition and things are in danger of too much of an upset. Actually, I should probably have mentioned the bug controller explicitly, because the most obvious way to handle most of the uses of a big swarm of insects is Change Environment, and both from my own reading of it and from comments here it sounds like dealing with that is.... you know, NOT a basic thing to do, so advice there is also welcome. Among the many things Wildbow has to answer for with his Worm web serial is making people want to do these fiddly potentially troublesome things like Skitter ;)

Yeah, so, I'm thinking about doing a very stupid thing: Trying to GM when I've played about two sessions of Champions myself, in different games that never went anywhere, with a group who range from "was in a D&D campaign years ago" to "has heard about this tabletop game thing, how does that work?" Needless to say, this is an intimidating prospect, but how else do you get a group started if your friends aren't already gamers? I really don't want to give them a poor impression of the hobby/system. I've only run a single session of D&D once back when 3.5 came out and the FLGS had an open table during the all-day promotional event, but that's basically it from that end, and only been a player in a dozen or so sessions of another campaign. Swords & sorcery doesn't really grab me and I've developed a real loathing for classes and levels, so with the things locally popular being D&D/PF or endless Crack: The Cash-Gathering tournaments options have been limited, but I finally got a few folks interested in giving supers a try. So, can anyone give me some pro tips for the noob, or point me to some existing material? I'm sure it's been asked before many times, of course. Oh, and since it does matter a bit, Champions Complete + Champions Powers (and the Hero in 2 Pages handout from MHI as a quick reference for how to do basic mechanics in play) are what it'll be based on, though I do actually have a BBB as well. I don't think it would even be a possibility without Powers to give everyone ideas and examples, TBH. "You can do anything!" is great but makes it hard for a newcomer to home in on a concept to roll with, especially for Complications related to a power theme/beyond Hunted and Code Against Killing. Fake edit as I read things before posting this: Brian Stanfield had a really great point in the "Sell me on Hero system" thread, part of a longer post: "Please, PLEASE do not teach them this: 11 + OCV - dice roll= DCV you can hit. NOBODY understood what the hell this means! Seriously. I watched it happen in real time. They were able to calculate stuff and make the dice roll, but they didn’t intuitively understand why they were doing it. Teach them the pre-6th way: 11 + OCV - DCV = the roll you need to make. People get it when you are subtracting the opponent’s DCV from your OCV. It makes intuitive sense. Who cares if they know the opponent’s DCV while they are learning the game. That sort of meta-game knowledge may actually help them understand the interaction of the parts better." This is EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm looking for! It made the logic clearer for ME, let alone trying to explain to a total RPG newcomer.

Echo still has the same limits on Active Points etc. as everyone else, and is either using the VPP for stat boosts or not very impressive in them due to the cost of it. Having three different flavors of 10d6 Blast doesn't mean much in mechanical effects, and needing a couple of skill checks to a.) keep a copied effect outside close proximity to the original user and later b.) memorize/record the pattern to bring back later after switching to something else will still put a damper on collecting 'em all. He's the floating team mate who fills in for whoever doesn't make it to the session or whatever role is getting hit especially hard by the enemies, basically. I'm one of those freaks who likes playing support characters, so aside from my standard minimal "be prepared to stomp undead so the GM never sends them at us" measures being able to act as understudy for any of the others should suit to a T. That's the theory anyway and at least I shouldn't get bored after running through all the available power tricks like I did with my last character.

Even the Cheatingan can't use every jutsu at the same time! Ifurita maybe... but yeah, basically this is just a wizard who learns spells by observation instead of by calculation or experiments in the workshop.

Well that's just about exactly what I had in mind, thanks! I've had Champions Powers on my wish list for a while, but it's definitely getting an extra star or two now. Hero System is super versatile, but can be just as confusing without lots of examples to work back from.

So, the concept is a character who can copy other powers permanently, like El-Hazard's Ifurita or Sharingan users from Naruto. The best fit on the face of it seems to be a self-Transform (Or Multiform as suggested in Champions Complete, but Multiform as described doesn't fit what's being done the way Transform does) limited to powers being used on the character or by someone they're closely observing for things that don't have such effects, then adding a linked VPP with the "theme" that it can only be used to store powers currently being copied, "healing" the original Transform in the process. Some kind of skill check should probably be involved, at minimum to confirm the power is learned pemranently vs. being lost of the VPP points allocated to it are shifted to something else, possibly to store it in the VPP at all rather than occupying the Transform powers's points/etc. Does this sound reasonable to you? Too expensive or too cheap? Too much book keeping? Is just the VPP enough, maybe with a linked sensory power instead of Transform? It's a nifty concept and a fairly common archetype in fiction, but I'm not sure how it would work out in play. I'm working from Champions Complete only, due to a general scarcity of budget for RPG books.

... So much easier, just from looking at it with a different point of view. Thanks, everyone! I was a little too bound up in the SFX to identify the mechanics, which is always the trick when you're building something in Hero. Turning a grab bag of powers into a themed set is something I'm actualoly rather good at, but in this case it was what was holding me back. If anyone is interested enough to try a proper 6th ed. build I'd certainly be interested to see, but just this should be enough to work with now that I have a starting point. Point limits would be anywhere from Standard 400+75 to Very High Powered 650+100, with anything below the high end meaning more to kick in for the group base/starship. Standard Galactic Heroes filght, life support, and energy blasts weren't mentioned originally because they're incidental to the main themed power and easy to add anyway, but would also need to be included in there. Best-working-name-so-far is Force Multiplier. Working backstory is a newcomer-space-agency astronaut ala Rocket Girls who was saved and empowered by friendly aliens when her capsule suffered a mechanical failure that would have led to a failed reentry, perhaps combined with latent abilities she'd had all along. FX-blinded thinking - this is just a teleport. To answer the question, though, "Them" refers to the cubies she break up into, as does "the rest" meaning that a fraction of the mass gets 'ported then a new whole is built around it while the old is destroyed. Likewise the next line that prompted the image macro response, it's just a healing effect as piped through the theme of the powers as a whole.

I have a pretty cool character conpet here, but the power is a hydra-headed mess I have no idea how to build, let alone doing it for less than multiple thousands of points. A little help? (preferably 6th Ed., but 5th is fine too) It's a wierd combination of disintegration, regeneration, swarm form, duplication, teleportation, and shapeshifting - the character can break herself or objects/others into litle multicolored cubes and do various things: * "teleport to nowhere" of a target or part of a target to destroy it * teleport a single limb to deliver a hand to hand attack at range and then either bring it back or destroy it and reform a replacement * teleport a few of them and rebuild the original after destroying the rest * teleport to the same place to perform major regeneration of herself or others/restoration of objects by taking advantage of the rebuilding effect when the blocks are put back together * form LEGO-brick-like constructs with the blocks, to be useful objects/weapons/armor (with telekinetic control) * full shapeshifting/transmutation by reassembling more completely than the block contructs and smoothing out into a proper form * partial teleport to get mass to shapechange into something else, then regenerating the original back to normal * partial teleport then reforming multiple complete bodies, which may have a shared mind or be independent. Also useful for duplicating objects. * pulling a few blocks out of something/one and fiddling with them, then putting them back for various boosts/enhancements/drains, to activate dormant powers, etc. About the only part that's really straightforward is immortality by having a few of the blocks appear as if teleporting from nowhere after a while to begin regenerating, since that's just FX on a single well defined effect, where the rest is this huge swirly mess of related functions. Now, I'm not expecting to see something that fits in a standard starting point total - that's a powerful and versatile set of abilities up there! - but I could really use some advice on where and how to start modeling this. The visual effect of the cubies is based on Janemba from the Fusion Reborn Dragonball movie, an example of which can be seen in the animated gif on this PowersWiki page: http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Partial_Teleportation As a DBZ villain Janemba himself is far more into biggatons than this sort of versatility, of course, and the movie in general is pretty forgettable aside from that one very cool visual effect.

Here's an image, or pretty close. It'll probably work if you load it in the CO client, for that matter, though I'd prefer if no one else used the costume design.

I'm happy to help; more good adventure modules out there is a win for all of us - even if they don't appeal to a particular person or they never get to play through it, it's one more thing to attract/keep others interested, and thereby more players to keep the system and community alive.

Got a typo on the back cover, at least as shown in the OP. "...threatens the enter city." It might be good to replace the "and" after "fast" with a comma in the folllowing line from the frog girls page, too: "They are also very aglie and fast and can be very stealthy and will almost always make their initial attacks by surprise." On a less pedantic level, it amuses me greatly that (perhaps after deprogramming and rehabilitation) these are girls who will say to a boy they like, "If you're real nice, I'll show you my frog," rather than the other way around. The adventure itself looks interesting, and I'll mention it to the GM for the game I'm joining. It also reminded me to add immunity to poison to my pseudo-physical energy being character, so it's already a useful game aid

(Boggle) Yowza, when you say it's a complicated build, you're really not kidding! I follow... maybe 75% of that. Maybe. I do see some things to draw on for DiZ, though - and as a starting speedster rarther than one with decades of backstory, it's fitting if she's a little lighter on Stupid Speedster Tricks than a highly experienced hero like Barry. As for Hero Maker... maybe in a month or two, $25 is not a trivial expense either, even if it's not as bad as more books. Is the format of the page as linked output from that, or just how you set it up for your web site?

Hyper-Man: Well, yes, but what I'm asking for is help figuring out what mechanics to use. Which things can/should be put in a multipower? How to handle the shapechanging so it's not a points hog for something that's meant to be a secondary power with mostly cosmetic effects? Do I need seperate attack powers for the Logic Probes and unarmed, or is there a modifier to use the same geneeral set of attacks with both? Christopher Taylor: I figure "throw hundreds of punches" will just be SFX for a high-damage physical attack, but the transformation mechanic sounds like something for a variable power pool, much like if she was using "household magic" rather than trying to define every task before hand. Modeling the ability to rapidly disassemble a weapon or gadget was suggested as a Dispel vs. Technology to go in something like that. If anyone wants to contribute their own favorite speedster tricks or things that didn't work out, that would be helpful too. Edit for typos.

The concept has been approved with the caveat that some of it may have to be developed as the game progresses with XP. The campaign is set to Standard Superheroic with a soft total point limit ("About 400 plus Complications") and a strict power limit of 60 Active Points, but I barely undrstand what those mean let alone all the options and modifiers in the system, and I'd rather not be the guy who shows up and eats half the game session getting the other players to help build a character. I'm not looking for someone to do all the work for me - I can handle four-function arithmetic just fine - rather for how to get the most effect for the points spent, and the best way to do things that may be less obvious, or tips on things that look simple until you try to use it. I'm working from Champions Complete only, because I don't have the RES to buy half a dozen $40 to $50 books. Here's the concept as it currently stands, with a few notes about mechanics from discussion: Digital Zoom An advanced quantum computer's anti-malware routine with a feminine interface avatar diverted to a gadgeteer's digitizer device guring a cyber-attack, Digital Zoom has taken to defending the real world against misappropriation of resources and harmful intrusion much as she did in cyberspace. She has discovered that she enjoys using custom avatars that resemble various fictional characters, and seems to get a positive response from others to most of them as well. Appearance: Hollywood-average female (aka somewhere between model and supermodel) build, black bodysuit with softly glowing orange circuit traces and a few lime or pink details, shiny, solid white chest, waist, and shoulder armor with lime and pink details, disc-shaped side elbow and knee pads that match the bodysuit. Her head sweeps back to a short teardrop shape and looks like the rest of the bodysuit, featurless except for an orange visor with a black frame across the top which extends to a pair of "ear fins" that conform to the surface of the overall teardrop rather than sticking out. The lower legs sweep out like bellbottom trousers to the soles of her feet, with have glowing lime "tread" patterns. This is her default/heroic ID, but she can adopt a "normal human" appearance if desired, or any other with time to design the avatar (at least an hour for anything that can't be done as a skin/hair/face change to a default human male or female model, more like four to six for a specific person or nonhumanoid.) She has a limited library of alternates that can be changed between immediately, including her default heroic and civilian IDs plus a few cosplay characters. (maybe five total? One of them should be a pair, a robot such as TFG1 Arcee and the matching vehicle form, at human size and with no actual change in capabilities except the lack of arms and hands as a vehicle. Growth/shrinking for different-sized avatars will come later if at all.) Common cosplay targets are anime girls and fantasy or space opera characters, or characters being played in the theatre club's production of the month, and can include clothing or be just a base body to wear real costumes over. Powers: Overclocked: Able to run at supersonic speeds. (May develop up to lightspeed or FTL in the future, depending on campaign direction.) Gigahertz: Can perform hundreds or thousands of attacks/actions in the time a normal person could do one, super-dodge/bullet time. (?)Lightning Reflexes Double Data Rate: Super-study, enhanced perceptions, Lighning Calculator and possibly general INT and Mental defense bonuses, (?)extra SPD with END cost. Telescopic vision would also fit with the codename if there's points for it. Physics Engine: Can arbitrarily define any surface as "the floor" to run or stand on, though liquids or flying debris are more difficult. (Clinging for most purposes, Flight with Only In Contact With A Surface and a turning mode for liquids/rubble/missiles in flight/etc. (may have to be developed later with XP.)) (FTL running would require microscopic/telescopic perceptions to detect particles of interstellar dust or hydrogen to be the "suface" she "runs" on, or else be some kind of Speed Dimension hyperspace sort of thing. Maybe a combination, where going FTL requires partially phasing into a speed dimension to operate under its rules, also making the mass of single particles or atoms enough to run on. FTL is only in space either way, though, so she'd need either enough Superleap to get out of the atmosphere or a second gear of flight-as-running without the "only on a surface" modifier to represent running on the air itself. Maybe? This is stuff to be developed much later, but suggestions on how to handle it are also welcome.) Rapid Refresh: Because Digital Zoom's apparent form is actually constantly being recreated it is difficult to damage (PD/ED) and recovers quickly (high REC and regen in the BOD/day rather than BOD/month range.) Doesn't require air/water. Custom Avatar: shapechanging (as described under Appearance,) (?)no hit locations (maybe later, if so then hit locations represent code modules that have their data disrupted by damage,) (??) Does Not Bleed (probably later) Gadgets: Logic Probes - a pair of energy batons that do STUN only, for non-lethal takedowns. Putting them away to attack barehanded means the fight just got serious. Super-cellphone/team communicator Contacts: (gadgeteer), local cosplay/theater club Skills: Disguise, Act, Study, Cyber-security, Knowledge: Porn and Cat Videos, JOAT, Linguist Complications: (apparently, I shouldn't need more than about half of these) (Maybe not a complication as such, but low Resources) Requires electrical power as food Not familiar with human culture (except for porn and cat videos) No legal identity (possibly not even recognized as a person?)(Apparently, this can be a Perk, but I was thinking of not having so much as a library card as ID, let alone driver's license etc. DiZ is not the team mate to send out on a beer run, super-speed or no.) Watched by (gadgeteer), who would feel (be legally?) responsible for questionable activities Hunted by (someone who wants to study/reproduce the phenomenon to create disposable super-soldiers) Job: Expected to perform in the club's productions one weekend a month plus a few rehersals, her share of the admissions take pays for the room and electric bill where she lives. Sense of Duty to stop criminals (Having equated them to malware, Digital Zoom cannot fail to react to a crime in progress - it's her primary function. At the same time, she has no actual animosity for them, they're only fulfilling their own functions after all... though there may be (are w/Enrage below) exceptions) (?) Enraged by murderers and rapists - they not only appropriate resources without the proper permissions but degrade or destroy normal functions. Their operations must be immediately stopped. and be erased or at least rendered nonfunctional to remove to quarantine. (If the other Complications aren't enough)