Bolon

Re: Need clues for an investigation With the concept of "super serum" and "zombies" are common to both criminals, you can play that angle for a while. The disfigured survivors and zombies could be very similiar in nature and be used as the battle at the crime hunches. These creatures can fight the heroes and get away/ cops arrive so no investigation and then later investigation to show 2 different types. The super serum victims can go homicidal and the zombies can have controlled methods to show a sort of difference too. Each have different motives or usages so they will not be easy to run this masquerade for long. The 2 criminals will have distinctly different profiles and actions so I don't understand why you would want to "trick" your players. The game master is not an adversary but controls the world and allows for all to have a good time with co-operative story-telling. Watch when you deceive your players as you create distrust and anger. You also need to balance giving them clues versus drawing it out so the players keep interest. I once drew it out too long and lost the players. Your best clues can be incidents of escapees or witness/victims that were not aware of the danger before but know now. The scientist who is finding subjects would be considered bad news or dangerous when a number of street people vanish. The street people will know this but not share it easily with the players. The cultists would be the same if using a ruse. You can only trick people so many times especially when those people might be suffering from mental illness including paranoia. They might have a number of false suspicions though like aliens etc. Finding a hunting ground or safehouse might be next. After a number of incidents, you will see a pattern for the kidnapping by location and can find out where the hunting area is and where it is not. That where it is not, creates a safe zone that criminals will not hunt in as it is too close for their safety. The overlapping patterns might throw someone off for a while but would be solved once 2 criminals is established. The more incidents, the better the results via mathematical profiling. I would personally look for a series of incidents that would give the heroes the clues for the next action. Each event results in a clue and leads to the next. You might want to map it from the final battle backwards to the first incidents. Then you will have a pace to release the info.

Re: The shop of the insidious Dr. Lo I would even agree to allowing it to be a symptom that would be seen as a clue to a cure or the identity of the killer. You don't pay to put you at a disadvantage by giving something away or making it easier. That sounds like a disadvantage or limitation on the poison.

Re: PCs owning slaves: Do, or Don't? The keeping of slaves is more of an element of "Lawful" if you are looking at alignment. Historically, slaves had rules and rights beyond what is known through the experience of the southern states of the USA. I wouldn't allow it in my games as I usually play more medieval rather than dark ages. Indented servants and a class system is used. In games with a more heroic or fantasy edge, the heroes should be above slaves and above owning them. They would have their serfs or such but different from "slaves". There are few great epic novels with slaves as characters. If you want that high realism, look at Harn and that is high realism. Most want high adventure or high fantasy. Slaves are back story and not main story material in that.

Re: Super Heroic Behavior Has nobody heard of UNTIL or any of the other law enforcement agencies that would hunt down and capture heroes that are turning into villains? I personally enjoy the way the role-playing would become if they did. Why create a totally different set of rules? What happens if you do this in real life? You become a criminal rather than a hero and are arrested or hunted. The players don't get points for these hunteds. They can put a character into permanent retirement. I would give them a simple GM note to inform them that their actions will result in legitimate consequences. I have had a great time with Dark Champions with heroes who would skim off the criminals to support their heroics or even their covers. One hero was even a criminal in an alternate ID. If they get caught, too bad but I am just the game master and don't pick sides. I just give consequences. If your heroes are acting like jerks, maybe the GM is the jerk because I personally did things like that when I wanted to damage a game as it was unfair and ridiculous. The game master had a NPC who was evil and giving the group a hard time. I used a power that was beyond their ability to know and was being chased almost immediately by a wizard police group who seemed to be able to predict the future by how quickly I was attacked and punished. Another game we were just fighters but able to defeat large armies of soldiers for some weird reason. Other players were calling us cowards for not fighting. It was actually all a cyber illusion or dream. In both cases, I walked away from the table as it was just not fun.

Re: GM conundrum - CSLs This is a Terran Empire game. He has chosen rifle at a high level. He hits easily in very difficult situations. He therefore is the primary target in any ranged combat. Villains will adapt by using tech to find him after the first shot or targeting him. If he spends all on "to hit", what kind of defences will he have for concentrated firepower. He took rifle specific. The weapon is single fire and large. He will get ganged up on, easily spotted or forbidden to have a rifle in some situations especially on high-tech planets and peaceful planets. The character will be useless outside of combat with so much focused on CSL. Try to do a house clearing or close combat with a rifle and you will see the penalties that will quickly be added to movement and perception. How much of your campaign will be open ground fighting that he can use such an awkward weapon. The skills will not transfer to pistol or other weapons that would be needed in a building. I would allow it if it didn't break my base rules for the campaign as set by the level rules. Look at the suggested and then just think. It is not a rifle without the long barrel and stock to give it the qualities of a rifle. Personally, it sounds like the guy is screwing himself with a character that will become unplayable a lot of the time.

Re: Criminal Profiling I am currently reading the Numbers Behind Numb3rs book and have started to write up how mathematics could be used as a skill for Dark Champions and how the game master can assign modifiers based on the role-playing to avoid just roll playing. Hope to get this done soon to add to this thread.

Re: Nano Hummingbird Spy Drone Watch a documentary called "Remote Control War". It was shown in the Doc Zone on CBC TV, Canadian Network. They even include the various technologies and something of a new technology of a swarm that would have multiple attack drones in an area that could work as a team to wipe out an area. The technology is not that high tech and would be a wonderful nightmare for a group of heroes to battle.

Re: Where do gangsters get pool babes? The question is how do they get pool babes. I think you need to look at how they got the pool, the money, the guys who sort out the babes from the undesirables and then we can see the pool babes. There are many girls who trade their beauty for parties when hot, young and foolish. The gangster has to reach a level of crime where he has the underlings that are sending him the money so he can have the place. If not, the place would be under constant surveillance by the cops. The gangster then needs to have the underlings that are not involved in getting money through crime to provide a secure environment. You can't do this when your bodyguards are wanted felons that the cops keep arresting. The amounts of money you are taking from the top must be enough that you can afford all the extras. There can't be someone up the food chain that you are paying money to so you can't afford all this. Any A-hole can throw a beach party in a college town or area that would fill with young hot babes with the right recruiters. The pool babes have to be introduced and brought to a gangster since they need to be screened for cops and informants. If the cops deputize a couple of porn stars, we would see an end to the gangster culture after it was known they might be informants. It would actually work if the cops could turn a couple of porn stars who wanted to vanish forever in the witness protection program. Break a few large crime rings and destroy the idea of the gangster or crimelord with hundreds of pool babes. For all these reason I think pool babes are usually a very trusted girl who is procuring the rest, like a stripper or porn star bringing their friends. Otherwise, all would fall apart since too much would be known outside the criminal group.

Re: The Ruins Of Detroit An area that might be deserted due to unsafe water system or maybe hazardous waste dumping within a game city like Hudson City or any other would create an interesting area. You need a reason for mass exit of people from an area. I think even somewhere like New Orleans after Katrina would be a good example with multiple zones. As I hear, many who left, never returned as they put roots down elsewhere. For Champions, imagine the mutant heroes who arise from the contaminated areas or zones. Star Hero games can include such areas after the ravages of war or evil. Galactic Champions can include this after the evil of a villain. It could even be contaminated by evil uncontrolled magic or demonic curse. Who knows what could lurk in such areas. I do like the idea of a light rail line travelling through these areas that would actually be something others can hitch a ride on. What wonderful ideas are arising!!!!!!!!

Re: The Cape - What do you think of it so far? IMHO, the Orwell character is a love interest feel but the hero is married and heroically not revealing himself to protect them. The storyline don't seem to have a direction and are still feeling out where they should be. It does have the feeling of a Knight Rider or techno-aided hero of the 80's. I think the writers don't really have a strong vision yet but are seeing what works. Once the vision gets stronger, it might be better. I am not impressed yet but give it a chance.

I am wondering about anyone or any reference for the murky conspiracy theories. I have recently seen the Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theory and wonder if Dark Champions or any players have come up with some wonderful ideas on how to create a world with these theories being active. They could create wonderful adventures beyond the common crime stories. I would love to hear on any resources, adventure ideas or success game ideas that have gone this route. It can be Dark Champions or Champions in nature as a lot of theories could easily be 4 colour versus the gritty nature of DC. This might also be a good idea for a resource book for the system with the dark organizations behind the theories. (Hint,hint)

Re: Criminal Profiling As it develops, you could involve numerous other subskills or complimentary skills. I am currently reading the "Numbers behind Numb3rs" book that details how the mathematics of Numb3rs is actually being done. The idea of adding subskills or complimentary skills would make your rolls that much better and therefore would require your gamemaster to give more details if such was available to you at such a time. I would say no as a GM if you show up and don't do any investigation but just throw out the dice roll. If your GM is one of these people who has a large variety of clues and likes to have numerous twists and turns in the case, a skill such as this would straighten out the road and keep the players on the right track. The same skill could also be used effectively by the GM to give the necessary information to liven the game by creating encounters and "leads" that end in exciting play. Personally, I am thinking of going through the Dark Champions villain book and look at creating criminal profiles towards each entry. I would use it as a suggestion and might help me sort out how to make the villains more realistic or easier to see their motives and Modus Operandi. It would also cause me to see how these criminals avoid going to jail. I would be willing to discuss adding such a section to future editions of the villains once done. I do find the campaign usage section is more of ideas for adventures without really giving a section on how to effectively use a criminal.

Re: Criminal Profiling Update on Criminal Profiling As stated before, it seems that the skill would have rolls based on specific areas. The target selection and victimology are so similiar that they would end up as the same roll. It would be accomplished in 2 separate ways though. There would also be a criminal geographical profiling. This would develop a zone or area that the criminal would use as a search area or territory for all their crimes. A good roll can be used to give details or even give an enhanced patrolling chance of finding the unknown suspect. The method of the crime including the advanced tracking skill would bring forward details about motive and therefore help to locate the suspect. All of this information can be used to reduce the suspect pool through known data bases. Depending on the depth of your campaign and knowledges, the gamemaster can decide on what can be found with the skills.

Re: Criminal Profiling Here is the beginning of what I am working on. Criminal Profiling is a subskill of Criminology and would be at a -2 to use with criminology as it is specialized. There are 3 rolls that can be used to determine information about a criminal. This works to find out the pattern of a criminal behavior. Simple street crime for wealth is without the same patterns and may turn up the results that it is motivated by simple motivations rather than sociopaths and psychopaths. This will also help with psychotic killers or extreme mental cases. The Method of Crime will give details on the type of person committing the crime and what the unknown suspect is getting from the act. This can give details of motive or delusion that the suspect is looking to create with each act. This can give other details in the suspect’s life. Target Selection would be about how the unknown suspect is choosing his victims and from where. This will also come from the scene of the act. This can also determine the area the suspect will hit next or where the suspect is likely to be based in. Victimology is looking at the victim to determine what makes the victim a good target or a susceptible target to the method of the unknown suspect. This can be done by looking at the home and belongings of the victim to see what the suspect sees that makes the victim a target. It can be as simple as hair colour or as detailed as a character trait that makes them an easy victim.

Re: Criminal Profiling As an obsession or disadvantage, the need to find the killer's motives would require roleplaying or something where the hero would be tempted or do things that would allow the criminal to get away in order to trade the information. This would be interesting but is not what I am looking for. If you used actual criminology, I think it would be too dragging down in the game for those without a criminology background and might go towards too realistic to be managable for the gamemaster unless he/she is a criminologist. I plan to look at profiling in a format that would simplified and more game friendly than highly realistic although would work. The gamemasters and players would have a simple reference and another way to gather information to solve crimes. Dark Champions, the Hero System and roleplaying in general, have a difficulty with creation of clues that keep the game interesting. The games are better designed for combat and roleplaying in less deductive aspects. The profiling will give the players more options to encounter the villain rather than show up for the battle of the week. This is the idea of what I am working on. I am wondering if anyone has looked at this before or tried to create rules. Thanks.

Has anyone ever done a skill based on criminal profiling for Dark Champions? I have been watching Criminal Minds and have been picking up details on what could be used for a Profiling as a Science skill in the Psychology branch. I would make it up as a pseudo science since I am sure that we will not have or want to have all the details to make it totally accurate but could be a great way to create clues and info for the crimefighters. Has anyone done anything on this? I am compiling a list and might create an article on this.

Re: The Ultimate Skill Have you ever thought of Criminal Profiling as a skill? I have been following Criminal Minds and have thought you could easily create a pseudo science to be used for the game. Being exact might not work but being somewhat correct and using it as a storytelling technique would help. A number of the villians in Dark Champions could fit into the various categories. Where would you place it on the science charts? I assume it would be a criminal psychology route with maybe a -2 if you only have that. Profiling would be a science skill. I would think calling it Psychological Criminal Profiling. Once designed, it could give the gamemasters some more details that their clues could give. This is only for the mental unstable criminal though and not the career criminal. Did anyone send anything in yet on this or is it going to be published somewhere?

Can the body of a heal power be used to counteract the body of a transform. Can heal be used for healing drains or suppresses?

Re: Is this Dark Champions or Regular Champions? I sort of divide DC and Champions as to how the characters play out. Public Identity is Champions. You can also look at how much of the time is spent fighting versus talking and skills. Champions have skills so they can get to the fight or know about it. DC use skills to investigate and deal with people, then take action. DC requires more usage and plotlines involving disadvantages and NPCs. Champion NPCs are villains or secondary assistants as in Directors of agencies, damsels/dudes in distress and to add colour. Do your characters really have lives other than fighting villains or not? That is a bigger aspect. Look at Superman. He does something to show him as Clark Kent, danger arrives, he is Superman, fights it, returns to Clark Kent to "hang out" with friends. Does the alter identity do anything to further the story? Batman finds out about others as Bruce Wayne or through his corporate friends, deals with Commissioner Gordon as an equal almost, interrogates others and uses his mysterious reputation to create fear. The fight is a minor part of his storylines. Batman (JLA) is the scientist or genius who uses something to equal things out, or figures out something essential to get the rest to the fight and really doesn't do much investigation. Even when Batman (JLA) investigates, he wanders off, gets the info and returns to inform the rest of the fight. Punisher fighting a group of mobsters for the full adventure is just really low powered Champions but the same Punisher who investigates on how the mob is hurting the neighbourhood and gets involved to save a kid from joining the bad guys, that is more DC. Just my humble opinion.

Re: Any more Ultimate Series books on the horizon I don't get on the message boards often but how about doing up some PDFs on each of those topics that can be updated and downloaded. Ultimate Disadvantage, Weapon, Armour, Gadgeteer and more could just be databases of new things that would be added to. I see they are selling some things so that you buy it for a year with updates included like software. There could even be a package deal for all the databases for a year. Might want to add things like a NPC or newest history of the Champions Universe. You might even want to create something of a mix and match sort of picking of parts you buy. I was actually thinking of a database of official things and more like lists to view to get ideas or see how others have bought things. That might be a better idea than doing an Ultimate for every little aspect. Might be a great way to make some money off of projects that don't quite qualify to be published but you have done some work on it. Just an idea. After all, I hear Hero is going into online gaming and such. Might be time to put out more.

I am working on creating a year calendar for Hudson City and wondering if anyone has ever done this. I plan on using as many story lines and threads to link up with Predators, Underworld Enemies, Hudson City Blues and any other book I can think of. I would like to create it as a player directed world with events for them to choose from to pursue. There will also be a variety of events that all the players to feel as if the rest of the world is continuing. Once I have the storylines put on the main calendar, I also plan on doing a daily log of events, weather, sports, cultural events, news and police reports. I am thinking of running it into the Hudson City Blues for the end of it and keep track of what the heroes don't solve for a continuation of events. Has anyone else done a module or anything to this degree to create a more flavourable city? I was also thinking that you could link in a lot of other Hero games in. Any ideas? I would like a list of Hero Games cities to be in the sports leagues. That would make a great crossover from other games or campaigns. I have Vibora Bay, Millinineum City, Hudson City and will add Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal from the Canadian supplement. I am just wondering what US cities are officially in the game that should be added. Anyone have any ideas on that or the calendar of events, let me know.

Re: Any more Ultimate Series books on the horizon I am seriously thinking that a book called the Ultimate Disadvantage would be another place to go. By looking at each power and each disadvantage, we would be able to answer questions on the best way to play disadvantages, make them more part of the game and make more playable. I would be even willing to discuss my concept and work on such a book for a writing credit, a copy of the completed book and set of 6th edition rules. I find the Ultimate series to clear up a number of questions and allow players to explore new concepts and ideas. It give most ideas on how to create characters they desired. I see how you can elevate disadvantages and limitations based on the type of character and the kind of campaign. How many GMs have clear ideas on what kind of limitations or disadvantages should be considered common, uncommon or rare? There is a lot more that can be done.

I would like to have a power to suppress armour PD. With some creatures, their armour PD is natural pd bought resistant. Can a suppress be used to suppress just PD of any kind? I have bought as a multipower for each I can think of but wonder if there are definitive types. I have PD of force field, force wall, natural PD and armour. Do I need modifier to remove resistant or do I just remove at 2 for 3 pts of suppress? Do I need to have one separate for natural PD versus armor? I would then assume that this can be used in cases of ED or Power Defense or Mental Defense. Would this be more of a how to? I originally used the "any special effect" modifier. Just for information, it is for a character in Galactic Champions, who slowly wears you down in a fight but dropping your defenses as you fight him. Damage reduction and suppressions linked to Hand to Hand Attacks are his main powers. Bolon

I am currently putting together a spread sheet to use as a quick reference for landmarks and services, shopping and "on the Town" locations by neighbourhoods. I am using Microsoft Excel for it and wonder if anyone has something like that for the NPC's of Hudson City or done this before. I know Hero Games personnel are on the site often. If you have any ideas, suggestions or restrictions on such a spreadsheet, I would like to hear. If you would like a copy, talk to me and I will wait until I hear from Hero Games on if I can spread it around. I would like to trade it for maybe a spreadsheet on NPCs in Hudson as that will be my next project. Thanks for any ideas or replies. Bolon

Re: Who's on 1st...Avenue that is? If you don't have a campaign city, then use your hometown. You and the players have a common frame of reference. Even in Hudson City or New York , most of the people are extras so you can make your town or village as big as you want. Get a map of the hometown and then just look at what your characters would be able to do. If you need a forensic lab, then the local force with Barney and Andy is now a 400 member force with all departments. Tell the players they need to help you in this but you are now in the megametropolis of Smalltown, Wherever. The key to doing your homework is learning your characters. I have a campaign starting with a thief/martial artist and a forensic cop with a vendetta. I have to know that. Why would they fight gang bangers to start with? I think I will give them a serial killer to start. Grab a phone book for important character names and just write them down. I might have your standard cop, thug, kid, person available if you don't have something with them in. You might want to draw out the scene of the crime place and leave the rest to just imagine. The players never take you where you want to go when you want to get there. I remember taking 3 weeks on something I thought would take a couple of hours and then 2 hours on something that should have taken 3 sessions. Just to tell you to relax and go with the flow. I know scenarios where the gm put them away for 3 sessions until the characters get back to it or where the characters kill that NPC that should never die. You can figure your way out. Good luck