Tech

You wanted opinions because apparently, there are no rules specific to your request. We've given our opinions. Choose what you think works best for you. If you're part of a gaming group, ask them and/or the GM (unless you ARE the GM) for their input. If you want something concrete, although I never use it (nor does anyone else in my group), use the skill called Power.

26 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

 

True for incremental powers, not always true for unit-purchase powers.  This is a unit purchase.  

 

For purposes of Drain, for example...say my Invis is sight group, no fringe, 1/2 END.  37 active.  You roll a 9d6 Drain...get 30.  Nothing appears to happen.  If you drain my 9d6, 1/2 END blast...same 30 points of drain knocks it down to, what, about a 4d6 tickle attack.  Flip side:  standard Desolid is completely all-or-nothing without a MAJOR!!! advantage.  In the middle is Shape Shift, where it specifically allows partial shifts.

 

The rules are silent.  That doesn't imply it's denied;  it doesn't imply it's permitted.  I'm *particularly* opposed to the "anything not expressly forbidden is permitted" school;  I'll grant that the converse is also not optimal, but it's far better starting point.  I'd much rather make specific rules to extend things.  MUCH easier for the players to accept, in my experience.

 

BTW, narrow, specific examples don't mean anything, as the comic writers are just doing whatever they want to do.  There is no systemic underpinning, no accounting.  IF!!! there's a predominant treatment, then that can be informative, but it's rarely definitive.  Especially in the broader Hero context, as it covers different genres.  

 

 

You missed the point. You just said "The rules are silent." It's not implied that it's denied or permitted. I gave a possible interpretation of the rule used elsewhere. Since nothing's stated certainly, I'll stick with with partial use on Invisibility because it's not denied.

Don't ask me where this is because I don't know specifically. However, it is stated somewhere that when you use a power, you don't have to use at at full power. You can shoot your 9d6 Blast of Air at a low 2d6. Not using your power at full applies to all. In this case, not using your invisibility at full power can easily mean part of you isn't invisible.

5 minutes ago, mallet said:

There could be uses for this in some campaigns, settings, characters.

 

Imagine a character with 4 arms, and the ability to make 2 of them invisible. They could be picking pockets/stealing things with those 2 invisible arms, while their 2 normal arms are fully visible so no one expects the theft to even possibly be happening. Or for magic tricks and the like. 2 extra, invisible arms/hands could make for some interesting/impossible seeming illusions and slight of hand magic. 

 

Character could be picking a lock with their two invisible hands while the other two are out in the open carrying stuff (and blocking the view of the lock).

 

Same could be said with some uses of Stretching, the characters full body is visible, but one of his arms that he seems to be leaning against the wall on is actually invisible and stretch out going around behind the guard to attack him from behind or hit an alarm or whatever. 

And I still wouldn't charge anything more for this. That is just roleplaying and using the power with good thought and tactics. The invisibility power (and Stretching in this case) has already been paid for - don't penalize the player for using the power well.

On 4/15/2022 at 10:40 PM, unclevlad said:

Not sure there are any clear, strong use cases for this, but...

 

What would people think about Selective Invis.  Like Selective Desolid, Selective Invis allows the character to leave certain parts visible, at discretion.  Now, unlike Selective Desolid, there isn't a compelling reason to do so, but it feels like it may have some useful deception aspects.  

 

I don't think it should be a *big* advantage, but it does feel like maybe a smaller one.  +1/4?  +1/2?  Can't see it any larger than +1/2.

 For a player character who wants to use their Invisibility selectively, I wouldn't charge anything: it's a roleplay of the power. IF that power use starts becoming really useful, then I might charge for it

On the other hand, a home-made villain was made that selectively does that to himself, and to heroes. Here's how it was made:

Multipower

u. Invisibility (he makes himself invisible)

u. Drain vs Dex, AP - make parts of hero disappear, leaving them disoriented, not vs heroes with special sight

u. Flash attk - Makes the environment temporarily invisible, affecting the eyes

On 4/13/2022 at 5:03 PM, SCUBA Hero said:

Superhero Genre

• Use END
• Track with pencil and paper
• No house rules

Yeah, another ditto. The players design their characters with END in mind. Some characters are built so that they can only last a short while in combat.

Okay, you have thought it out. A few questions: is this power for a player character? Do you intend to use this power to cause damage? If not, what practical effect will it have?

This is a similar question to the Time Stop power: what do you intend to do with the power? Cause damage, move things around while time is stopped, run away, etc?

On 3/24/2022 at 4:19 PM, Ninja-Bear said:

Hello Y’all,

 

I’ve always had a problem coming up with backgrounds even brief ones for NPCs. Does anyone recommend either a free or cheap NPC background generator?

 

TIA

I usually just base them off a character already created, whether comic book or something else.

On 3/6/2022 at 1:55 PM, Spence said:

Well, in the end I like bases and do not consider then a waste of points. 

 

Both as a players and as a GM for my villains. 

 

Every true villain worth their salt has a secret base......

Agreed.  I've made up 3 bases stats and found pictures for the bases. Players love it.

Viper tried their base-buster weapon on our heros HQ... it broke alot of windows and cracked a wall but that's it. Ah, it was worth seeing all the Viper agents just standing there with jaws open, motionless, to see their most powerful weapon hardly do anything... then the heroes retaliated...

You're not wrong. I noticed that as well.

I still play this but just not as much as I used to. Whether it's worth your time or not is something you'd have to decide. However, many people in CO have said it's got the best costume designer in any game, and I have to agree.  Upgrades? If you mean life-time, I'd suggest you try it first.

Our campaign has 2 large and 1 smaller chessex battlemaps that serve us well for the most part. When I draw the map on the battlemap, usually I add something to keep the players surprised. For example, for a Champions game I created an area of the zoo where a white tiger was the target to be stolen by the bad guys. So, I added the giraffe area, hippo area, kobold cage... (yep, that last one got them.)

However, there are times when a colored picture of a battlemap is just so perfect and much better drawn that I can draw. In this case (for those who also print battlemap pictures off), do you print them off on paper, or use transparency film? Up to this point, I've used paper because it's cheaper but the transparency is so much longer lasting and clearer. Is there something better? So, what do you do?

Our campaign is heavily 4th with a alot of other stuff thrown in but almost no 6th edition. Got some 1st, 2nd, 3rd edition and considerable 5th.  I mean, a couple weeks ago, I ran a game where a villain with martial arts was still in 1st Edition martial arts and it didn't make one bit of difference for the game fun. So, yup, the systems can run together.

4) I create a new villain who will be a archenemy for the group. The villain is carefully created to be a match for the team. Two sessions later, I get the strong feeling the players don't like him so I quietly move away from any archenemy. On the other hand, a one-shot npc becomes loved by the players. The NPC's name? Edna Mode.    Really, I'm happy this happened and she's become a major NPC for any hero who needs a justification for supergear.

5) (Early GMing mistake here...)  Trying to create an atmosphere for the characters, which the players just aren't in the mood for. Bad timing.

6) Trying to do a serious episode on a Friday evening, when everyone's had a long day and isn't in the mood for anything serious. I remember someone saying, "I'm not in the mood for something serious. Do we have anything light-hearted?"  Instantaneous episode creation is a test of any GM... but I did it.

Assuming you decided exactly how the power would be created, would you actually use it in a game? From much experience, players hate having their character mind-controlled, or at least made useless with a single attack.

On 2/4/2022 at 6:32 PM, Duke Bushido said:

I can go on, but like four people have replied while I write this, so I'm just going to state my absolute agreement that bases are nothing but point sucks for PCs.  If you want a base-- fine.  You can have it.

 

If someday we were to game together, I'd show just how different bases are treated in the campaign I'm in. For us, they're not useless. point blackholes or invitations for villains/agents to attack.

Ah, the TRS-80 or as my older brother used to call them, "the Trash 80".  Don't know why.

I'm thinking of creating a villain who can cause a blast of fire from underneath a hero that shoots upward, starting from the ground level. Reasonably, there should be a limitation of how high the fire will go, whether 20 feet, 50 feet, 100 feet, etc. Yes, the villain can cause it almost anywhere, but of course, not on or under water. What do you think the limitation would be on the power?

I don't have anyone declare their action until their phase and Dex. Until then, the character is observing things in motion to decide the best course of action. This provides flexibility and isn't rigid. It's worked for decades for the campaign I'm in.

Since we don't need to use laptops/cels/etc., I want players to keep their items off - it just distracts everyone else. We do use a HD kindle to show off picture of enemies/npcs though.

Gotta say, I very much disagree that a having a base is so you can be attacked. That is a potential plot point but the point of a base is a place where heroes can meet together, socialize, figure out what to do about villain so-so's new master plan.

Btw, I became a GM because I wanted to, and still do decades later.

This is for you GMs to tell some of your mistakes made before or during a Champions game.

1) I've written up a clever episode where the heroes eventually run into some robots to fight. It shouldn't be easy but not too powerful that they'll lose. Yes, everything looks good... except I forgot to stat out the robots!

2) The game is going well, the heroes are beginning to get near to the mastermind's base and the players are really looking to stomp some goodness into the baddy except... the stat sheets for the minions AND the villain simply can't be found. "I had them a minute ago!"

3) The heroes encounter an impressive villain for the first time and when I read out his speech, it goes flat. (thinking to self, "It sounded better on paper.")

Using Champions 2, I've written up statistics for several of our superteam bases. All of them have a minus to PER roll to recognize them naturally, among other things. I use the Mastermind Option for the team, with each hero giving points towards the 50 pts, then the team leader's total cost is used for how many points the base has. Trust me, 300 points for a base sounds like alot, but it can go so fast.

2 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

 

I'd call it restrainable or physical manifestation then.

I agree.

One of my story arcs started 14 years ago, with each episode story well-received by the group. Each episode focuses on a particular character in a situation that must be resolved. If resolved well, the hero has grown a little as a hero and perhaps a person; if not resolved, there may be some dire consequences (such as losing their powers, for example). Fortunately, the heroes have never failed.

I'm actually doing my next one this coming Friday. This story goes something like this: the sword-user's special swords will fail during a fight with a villain; these are swords of legend. Another hero from England will help the group travel to England to find an actual knight who can give him the Knight's Oath. The hero must take the Oath, which will restore the swords to power. Restored now, the hero faces the villain again to triumph over him.

Off-hand, I'm going to go with a -1/4 limitation but it depends on the campaign setting.