Certified

We're not talking about your average "Thug w/Gun" but the real villains. Normally I will warn Players: I like to use reoccurring villains. What this means is that they will learn and adapt to the players. When doing character generation I tend to go for group discussion and design using DC and Defense limits versus active points. This allows the the Players to help balance each other out and avoid stepping on each others toes. it also gives me a better idea of how they may function as a group later on. Villains tend to be designed around their own stick/resources and motivations. However, after a few encounters with the PCs their may start picking up more specific when they know they're going up against the team. So questions: Has anyone else taken up this concept and how has it worked in your games? Have you had villains evolve into something completely different from the original concept? How many reoccurring villains do you use? It seems that having more than a small rouges gallery under this philosophy may seem to be picking on the Players. This is a GM image I try to avoid. To do so I tend to keep Evolving Villains to the more intellectual category and don't apply this to super brutes. What has been your Players reactions to seeing villains who are preped for them?

Re: And finally... There are much, much worse ways to loose an eye...

Re: Superhero Images Here is a sketch I did for one of the characters from 6th World. Not quite a super hero but a folk hero in a post apocalypse future. It's not good, but when I was talking with the guy who maintains the House Dok site about doing a web comic I did some rough drafts of how he may look. I give you Hippy Man, man

Re: And finally... Do Quest and Masquerade fight a lot of cold themed characters?

Re: What else is a classic trope ? The Honorable Villain: Karai

Re: Metahumans Rising:Defenders Ascendant Issue 2: Black Out The scene on the streets is strangely quite. Cops move people out of nearby buildings and behind police barricades. As the dark steed rides on into the shadows the joint BMA and MCPD team looks on assessing the damage. A woman doubled over is surrounded but eight men all wearing the same white armor from the DBC robbery. Several others are scattered through the cross streets. Before they can get their bearings the Humans Now troops open fire without warning. Trouble Shooter announces the team is with the MCPD and insists everyone stand down. Mr. Stone summons a wall of asphalt from the ground to guard the woman Dorian already moving to her side. Drake and Trouble Shooter move to apprehend the shooters while Dorian runs past them to aid the troubled woman. Diving into the asphalt Mr. Stone reappears below on of the Humans Now troops sending him flying through the window of a nearby convenience store. Using Mr. Stone’s display of force Doran stands over the woman advising the Humans Now men to stand down the MCPD is on scene. Looking up the woman smiles at the distraction, blades of black force erupting from her body, the closest solder staggering back as it glides through the air. It is only now that Dorian realizes that the woman he has tried to protect is the known Metahuman criminal Lady Night. The violence escalating Trouble Shooter tries to disarm the situation. There is a tension in the air. Across the street by the Globe Theater a man appears for a brief moment wearing a black ninja’s gi and grey headband. It appears as though he whispers something to the gunman standing in front of him before disappearing again. At the same instant the Humans Now agent is lifted into the air as if he’s being pulled punching though a yellow cellophane sheet window of a nearby night club called the Deck. The apparent leader shouts urging them on as the other Humans Now gunmen fire wildly demonstrating a clear skill but not compared to the super powered Metahumans they face. Some however break ranks two running into a nearby movie theater still being evacuated. Enraged Lady Night stands revealing shadowy gossamer wings. "Enough of this, you can deal with these bottom feeders. You can't hide the KB forever!" Launching herself into the air she disappears into the cold January night. Trouble Shooter calls to her as she fires a glue round at a nearby Humans Now Agent. Shadow Knight and the Humans now agent wrestle for a moment revealing that the armor is held in place by quick locks and that he is wearing club attire underneath. Not sure what to do Dorian disables another gunman while trying to stop Lady Night’s escape. Moving quickly Drake takes down the Humans Now leader. Back inside the Deck Night Club Shadow Knight knocks out the gunman. Scanning the area Mr. Stone sees two other gunmen moving in on Trouble Shooter almost without thought one is encased in a stone prison. Making sure the Humans Now leader is disarmed Drake dashes for the Clermont Cinema. Next Time: Black Out Part 2

Campaign Log for Metahumans Rising, Defenders Ascendant Call to Service Issue 1: First Impressions Originally a joint operation between the Bureau of Metahuman Affairs and Metahuman Crime Prevention Department formed to investigate the theft of rogue shipment from Dynamic Biotech Corp in Arlington the Defenders had no idea the size of the task they had been assigned. The investigators include: Dorian Pendleton, a British import and Knight of the Realm, an original survivor from direct KB2 exposure with the ability to manipulate shadows now working with the MCPD. Freedom, a military trained energy manipulator and patriot assigned to the BMA. Drake Walker, MCPD agent with remarkable regenerative powers. Along with Trouble Shooter an expert markswoman and master of trick shots from the MCPD. Detective Shane Stone a private investigator who had received a tip off on the theft had been present. Exposed to the chemicals in the transport Shane found himself changed imbued with the strength of the earth. With no real leads the investigative team met for the first time after his release from the hospital. Meeting for the first time Mr. Stone reviews the events of the night with the team. At the same time across town at the DBC corporate office the vigilante Shadow Knight investigates one of the executives known to be a member of the extremist group Humans Now. Finding a strange message in the executive’s outbound email Shadow Knight races to the his home to investigate further. There Shadow Knight learns of a plan at the Six Bridges, Arlington’s Theater District. With little time Shadow Knight rushes on to the Six Bridges. Going over the details nothing seems to match up. DBC claims to have no shipping manifest and the computer system that held the data has gone down under questionable circumstances. Mr. Stone explains to the other investigators that one of his contacts tipped him off and that a woman had been present, attempting to rob the shipment first. The informant had said a man in white armor and red cross had been with the men who hijacked the shipment. It was he who stopped the other woman. Mr. Stone also confirms that the men who attacked the delivery truck had worn white body armor and helmets. As Trouble Shooter reviews the data they had gathered reports begin filing in about an attack in Six Bridges. Several men wearing armor much like Mr. Stone had described had opened fire on a woman in the area. Soon after, all the lights in the district blew out sending a wave of panic through the city. Whistling Dorian calls a dark steed from the Shadow Realms to transport them to Six Bridges. In an instant, they are gone. Leaping from building to building Shadow Knight watches as the lights go down in Six Bridges, he sees the widening circular pattern and knows he is needed in it’s epicenter. Surrounded by shock troops Lady Night kneels over concealing her wounds, drawing in power from the darkness that has consumed them. She feels them out there moving around her. They think she is easy prey, they have the numbers. She has the darkness. Next Time: Black Out

Re: Heroes from All Fifty States Here is a second look at Golden Hammer. When adding experience I tried to look at it from two perspectives, what would a player want to give her and if she had a comic what are some of the things she might gain by way of guest writer. Best guess here she is after about a 4 year run and a couple of cross overs here and there to explain how she got so fast. Overall, she's a tougher verses Physical damage so Energy Damage looks more like a soft spot, she also has a major boost to her skill with the Hammer.

Re: Heroes from All Fifty States If I get a chance maybe I'll update Golden Hammer with some Exp.

Re: Superman Begins and Darker Superhero Stories Okay, real reply: The tone and feel of the world should be one that all players are comfortable with. There are some people who feel that the GM sets the tone and the mood of the campaign but I don't agree with that. A GM can set up scenes and try to create a feel for the game but the players are going to have an impact on this from the character they play and how they play them to the personality of the player all these factors "should" effect the overall game. One of the things I think is important is for players to discuss the themes and mood of the campaign when creating characters. This may help to smooth out rough edges and the trying to fit a cube in the circle that happens when GMs and Players don't express what they would like to do in a campaign. As for games I'm currently playing I would not call either of them dark. The game on Hero Central is really just getting into full swing and although I think the campaign could go dark, right now the game is leaning more episodic with tie ins to past story lines so I think it has a more four Color feel.

Re: Superman Begins and Darker Superhero Stories Ask a White Wolf Player...

Re: Superhuman Bender Okay, I admit I ended up on this thread because I thought you meant Bender from Futurama

Re: What happens when a new GM doesn't understand game balance

Re: What happens when a new GM doesn't understand game balance I want that M-16!

Re: More fun with Morty the Incompetent Mugger

Re: What happens when a new GM doesn't understand game balance /e Peeks from around the Corner Okay, let me star by saying I like the Hero System. However, I believe this thread helps to highlight one of Heroes greatest weaknesses, it's strength. Because it's so flexible there are infinite cool things one can do with it. At the same time people can pick it up and say, okay what do I do with it now. For a 500+ core rulebook it really leaves the reader in a sink or swim situation even with the sample characters. It's easy to unbalance a single character but when trying to design a challenge for a party one has to step back and wonder, is this going to be too effective/ineffective to be of any use? I think even with an experienced GM it can be easy for one to screw things up royally. Now, this is not to say, I'm advocating a negative advancement system that compares levels to challenge ratings and may or may not rhyme Sungeons & Sragons but it does mean that GMs must put a lot more thought into an encounter much less an adventure. /e Looks around, flees inevitable reactions.

Re: Terrible Movie or Awesome Back Story Here's one I thought of while on the way home today: Both the premise of and characters of The Last Action Hero, specifically Death should he find the other half of the ticket.

Re: More fun with Morty the Incompetent Mugger All I can picture is Hightower in drag from the opening of Police Academy 2.

So the basic premise is fairly straight forward. What movie characters are so over the top they can just be ported over to a Super Heroic universe or alternatively what plots are better suited for spandex than the big screen? Some Examples: Anyone got other examples or builds?

Re: A question to all

Re: Karate Kid vs Karate Kid

Re: Karate Kid vs Karate Kid Found it And everyone knows William Zabka would beat them both.

Re: Have you written a story? I guess I should qualify the shop around statement a bit more. It's still in the rough draft stages. I've been working on it on and off for about two years. What I'm hoping for is just some feedback as I go through it again before sending it out. Have faith I have gotten used to the rejection thing. Baen's Universe is remarkably quick and Strange Horizons is not that bad either. It's when you get away from electronic submissions things seem to slow down. The normal waiting time seems to be around 4 months before the rejection letter comes in and that is just on short fiction.

Re: Have you written a story? Has this been published? I'm taking a manuscript to Dragon*Con to shop around. Any tips?

Re: Have you written a story? As far as fiction for hero games I tend to do shorts for almost all the characters I post. However, here is a link to one that's long enough to not be considered flash fiction. Grey Matter Background for one of the settings more powerful villains but it involves the Xeno Consortium the campaign world's equivalent to the Avengers.