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i am trying to use attacks sparingly, but I'm also trying to let the players know ignoring stas except those used in combat, is a bad idea. They have won every fight, and i'm planning on having an important villain escape in combat so I need to use "tricks", rather than beat the characters down- which I think would make them dislike the game more... If the mentalist joins the party, there will be more mental attacks, but if the player doesn't want to modify (no to Always on invisibility) the mentalist character and stays away from the gaming sessions, there will be less mental attacks...

EGO 10 minion? Ha. half of the characters in the campaign have 10 EGO. If I add an enemy mentalist (again- last game I used a mind control and took control of the brick to attack the party for a few phases), they are in trouble. And most of the party has 10-13 PRE, I will be using PRE attacks too... Thanks to the help of the people in the forum, i've learned a lot. Thank you all. Do you think water or fog or smoke would create a situation where the invisible character would be seen or at least note a fringe?

He typically designs characters to stop the enemy leader, not to stop minions or thugs. He would attack the leader, and avoid the lesser opponents, which can screw up villain escapes. So, if a mind scan is initiated on a phase the victim doesn't react, does the attacker get info, until the phase the defender reacts? The rest of the party has low EGO and PRE (10-13), so it will be easy to mental attack them, and the party's mentalist will have to stop the attacks, otherwise he will be fighting alone quickly. He didn't pay for the advantage of 0 END invisibility

I was looking and the "Always on" modifier applies to 0 endurance persistent powers. And invisibility is not a 0 END persistent power... I expected the rules lawyers to point this out... ; ) Hhmm...

Most of the characters have 90pts in offense, too late to change it in this campaign. But, I did do one thing correct: I limited OCV/DCV , so most of the party has OCV/DCV of 8, and OMCV/DMCV is very low (most of the party...). So on against an average villain, they have a 50% chance of success. AoE, and alternate senses will make it hard for an invisible characters, and the mentalist isn't going to do well in physical/energy combat. Would a fog cloud/smoke cloud expose an invisible character? Opinions? 9d6 mind scan has an average roll of 31.5, so an 18 EGO, will not stop a +10 mind scan. But, he could render a victim useless in 1 round using other 90pt mental powers. SO... I will bring more mentalists to the fight. It could become a chess match, Villain mentalist vs Hero mentalist... Villain can take over members of the party, and hero can stop the attackers, if they don't go head-to-head (pardon the pun)

ghost-Angel, You said "...voluntarily turning off part of his power to talk...", but Always On is a limitation, so it should not benefit him. I told him he can not have Always On as this is a roleplaying game, not a combat boardgame. The problem character doesn't want to roleplay - his last character for Champions was a little homeless 10 year old, and I objected and he bitched. This 10 year old, had gravity/density powers including gravity-transform-continuous-too heavy to move. He had no other skills, no real roleplaying skills, no knowledge skills. The other members of the party objected to him being a child (how to you acquire information or investigate as a child?) he changed his character to an adult, but then designed a mentalist (former drug maker, and seller, rich, but feels bad about it. So now he is using his powers for good, SUPPOSELY). We will discuss it in a few weeks, when we all have a boardgame night. I'm hoping he continues to stay away from the game, and then I will hit the party with mental paralysis and see if they want to ban it... I am going to incorporate more psychic/mental powers into the games to keep things balanced. If the tank or blasters takes 2-3 rounds to knock a character out, then so should the mentalist.

I'm running a 3rd ed adventure, and adding a bit to attack and defense helps keep them on their toes. The module, has a fair amount of different attacks and enemies: dinosaurs, a misguided Robocop, (I added a group of villains ,and misguided "normal" humans), bad normal humans, robots, demons, and many of the enemies have alternate senses- IR, radar, smell. I decided to keep the mentalist from getting bored to make them discrimatory once-in-a-while... Can non-discrimatory senses detect at a penalty?

Mental attacks are visible to the victim, but by then it is too late... Most villians (or Heroes for that matter) don't have the stats to stand against the powers for more than a few rounds. The mentalist isn't playing now, as we can't agree on abilities limitations. He would feel picked on, if I did turn it into an arc... (but I like the idea...) He has one way mind scan, but (ha ha) it is in the same power pool as the rest of his mental powers. (thanks for pointing it out).

I don't like the idea of sleep, simply because entangle anyone can help - even non-heroes can hit it and break it (in theory). Mental paralysis with a lower level of (+1/4, +1/2) takes no damage from attacks must specify, a similar way to help (although, again it is listed as the +1 advantage, I believe it should be the lower levels -what do you think). Sleep involves a fair amount of time, and no one can help them -well, maybe a mentalist who can put them to sleep or fake sleep . And again, CC pg 65 lists mental paralysis take no damage from attacks as a +3/4, but on CC pg66 there is no +3/4 advantage... How common should th help be with a +3/4 advantage? I still think sleep is too uncommon and you can't get sleep assistance to be used at +3/4 level. Opinions? How does everyone feel about mental powers being invisible? Most characters don't have as much mental protection as protection from Physical/energy attacks, and making the attacks invisible makes the mental power even more powerful. I can understand telepathy being invisible, but attacks I feel should be visible. Steve long stated he doesn't answer design/philosophy questions, and suggested I post it for discussion...

Hi, While I have gamed for years, my gaming group decided they wanted a Champions campaign, and we haven't played since 3rd edition. I've noticed, even in the example characters, mental defenses (mental defense, ego) are less than physical/energy defenses. I find this true for my party also. CC states mental attacks are not visible.. It makes mental powers even more powerful. I can understand, non-attack mental abilities being invisible, but I think attacks should be visible. Please tell me, I am misinterpreting the rules and the mental attacks are visible. I have a player who wishes to bring in an invisible mentalist (90point power pool - one way mind scan, mental blast, mental paralysis, mental illusions, and ego+mental defense drain, 20PD/ED, 60 STun and 27REC) makes for an unstoppable character...(okay, not unstoppable, but really hard to challenge). he wanted a density control (transform - gravity attack) brick before that... Thanks for your time,

thanks for the replies. Any idea what the rough conversion cost between 3rd ed and 6th is? Villians, I typically boost powers by 15 to 20 Cp in attack powers to keep things interesting. Minions and thugs I typically do leave alone, well, I have increased attack in a few to keep the party interested. most of the party can't be hurt by 40-45pt attacks: 40ED/PD 1/2 is rPD/rED (60str attacks) 35PD/ED (60str attack), with only 5 rPD/rEd, 26 Pd/Ed with 18rED/PD (135 VPP w/ 90 control), 32PD/ED with 23rPD/Ed w/60pt attacks invisible+20PD/ED+ none rPD/rEd, 90 pts mental power pool (see below) Invisibilty + 90pts in a mental multipowr makes for a character hard to stop. I did call him a reverse Helen Keller, no one can see or hear him...His plan was to use one-way 9d6 mind scan to set the victim up (this way he has a connection and doesn't need line-of-sight), possibly 6d6 ego+mental defense drain, then 4d6 mental paralysis, or 9d6 mental blast or 10d6 mental control. He was upset, he couldn't do what he wanted (speak while always on sight+hearing invisbilty, he wanted every power in a IIF focus- I warned him(if he lost the focus, he would be a punching bag), and he changed, but didn't like it.), and refused to come to the last gaming session. Has anyone noticed the +3/4 no damage from attack advantage in pg65 is incorrect, there is no +3/4 advantage listed on pg66? +1/2 (another error on pg66, which lists it as a +1 advantage), states must have a common way to remove the entangle. Read my reply above... Is sleep too uncommon? As it will eliminate them for the combat. Thanks Phydaux, I may ban mental paralysis, but I will probably attack the party with it, and then suggest banning it...

Hi All, I started playing 6th ed Champions with my gaming group a few months ago. I find they min/max the characters and spend 90+pts in offense and defense. We are all experienced players having gamed for 30+ years, but this is the first time with Champions since the early 1990s... I have been using the old 2nd and 3rd edition books, for adventures, and it has been going pretty well, but as a general rule what is a 400pt 6th ed character equal to in 3rd edition? Roughly... If a character selects invisibility (sight and hearing, no fringe, always on), can they be heard while speaking? The player insists he can be heard while speaking, but can't be seen with sonar or infravision. I argued always on is a disadvantage, so no he can not be heard and any discriminatory sight or hearing, other than standard would make the hero visible. Disciminatory senses typically cost 15pts, and it should offset his 20pt power. Am I wrong? Ugh. The same person argued mental paralysis as written CC pg65, states he doesn't need a common way of getting out of mental paralysis, because the book states mental atttacks will do it. I responded: there is no +3/4 advantage: P66 Takes no damage from attack has 3 values +1/4, +1/2, +1. Now go and read the description. at one +1/2 it's transparent to all attacks, BUT +1 can not be attacked,... ... or affected by an outside character. I believe the last sentence is incorrect, ...takes no damage at the +1 (should be +1/2) must specify AT LEAST ONE REASONABLY COMMON AND OBVIOUS WAY TO REMOVE THE ENTANGLE OTHER THAN THE VICTIM BREAKING OUT NORMALLY. He wanted sleep as a common way to break out, but I responded:Yes. Everyone can fall asleep, but not in combat. Entangle is the basis for mental paralysis, and with entangle anyone can help the entangled character with their hands. Everyone has hands, even non-super heroes. Mental blast is NOT common. The book has an error: there is no +3/4 takes no damage from attacks, so I will allow the sleep. Against my better judgement. If you have a not discrimatory sense, and know a invisible character is around, what is the OCV/DCV modifiers? How about hitting blind, with no senses giving a clue as to the whereabouts? The party has min/maxed, so abilities they don't use in an attack is generally low or normal, making it fairly easy to exploit. I've made recommendations to try to be better rounded, but they became upset saying I was trying to micro-manage too much. Is there any advice you can give me about guidelines for character builds? What does everyone think?​