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Marchwarden

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Everything posted by Marchwarden

  1. John Barleycorn. An actual stalk of barley, in an armoured pot. Radiation accident had given him superintelligence and mental powers. Plus, if "killed" you could just replant him.
  2. Marchwarden: Back home in "New Zealand", fathers traditionally compel their sons to swear irrevocable oaths to carry on the family struggle. Marchwarden would probably assume that this was the case, and treat Junior as an enemy unless there were obvious evidence to the contrary.
  3. Never as powerful as the villains, sadly...
  4. Well, naturally he doesn't have the faintest hope of being released (the real-life one, I mean; a class-7 psi would be harder to keep locked up). But try telling *him* that.
  5. Re: Re: Real People Plot Seeds #1 Amended. Thanks for the catch. I sometimes get the real Julian confused with the version of him from our old campaign (the GM used him as the sponsor/bankroller of our team, and played up the more Bruce-Waynish elements of his character).
  6. Charles Manson was born November 12th, 1934. A would-be musician and self-proclaimed messiah, he is best known for assembling a "family" of cultists and setting them on a killing spree which was to claim seven lives in 1969. He is currently incarcerated, although the transcript of his 1992 parole hearing indicates that he believes his release to be inevitable. He regards himself as the saviour who will preside over a post-apocalyptic world in which the human race is cannibalized by its own mutant offspring. Note: thus far, I haven't made anything up; the above is entirely factual. I'd always known old C.M. was an apocalypt and wannabe Christ-figure, but it wasn't until I read the transcript that I caught the "mutant offspring" quote. I'd never realized he thought of himself as a champion of Homo Superior . Which leads us to our next little plot seed. Charles Manson has a swastika tattoo on his forehead. Rearrange that into something more like an X set in a circle. Charles X. Manson. He's pierced the veil of the future. Helter Skelter, babies; it's on its way. Some may call him insane, many consider him a monstrous menace, but the visions he's foreseen cannot be lightly dismissed. After all, he's the most powerful mutant telepath on the planet.
  7. In New York City, on December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot twice in the chest and twice in the shoulder, by a deranged fan. He died of massive hemorrhaging, after losing 80% of his blood. Now, his son Julian, since grown to manhood, has remained something of an enigma. While recordings of his are relatively rare, many have marvelled at the uncanny resemblance of his voice to that of his father. Nonetheless, he has never vigorously pursued a musical career, nor has he exploited his celebrity status. He avoids the media, shuns the trendy hangouts of the rich and famous and does not make conspicuous public contributions to charity (not to say he doesn't donate; he apparently keeps his causes private). I made up none of the above; so far, it's all been factual. And yet, in a slightly different world, in a universe of Champions, what ought we to think of a reclusive young multimillionaire whose father was so violently torn from life? Julian Lennon has had all the money, all the time and certainly all the motive he needs. And was that terrible murder merely the lunatic act of a solitary madman? Was some darker agency at work? The influence of a most villainous mind? And to what fateful ends might such questions drive Julian? What precisely has he been doing with his life, out of the public eye, a mystery to all but a few intimates? Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be found, nowhere to be recognized. Nowhere Man.
  8. Daimyo-no-yooso. Or just Yooso-sama.
  9. Blame the GM, not me. I was actually outside paying the pizza-delivery guy. Hey, R.R. took 4d6 Unluck; my sympathies are limited.
  10. I think that Nucleon and Koshka have it right. I make no claims to gamer-godhood, but the simple fact is that I skillfully detected that we were playing Champions, not MERP or LOTR:RPG. The charcter origin became merely a bit of colorization. Marchwarden is a Champion. Granted, he's a bit out of his element, but no more so than Obsidian or Ironclad. Not OGC, but OGP. I like that. Well said.
  11. A few notes: Odin was slain by Fenris. Vidar in turn slew Fenris, and so avenged his father. Props for Vidar might include an impenetrable wolfskin cloak, and/or a gauntlet or vambrace with the fangs of Fenris set therein, Wolverine-claw style. Incidentally, Vidar Odinsson would be, by rights, King of New Asgard. Freya survived, and could become an interesting character. She was originally a goddess of love (or, more accurately, a goddess of sex), but after the Brisingamen affair, she became a sex/war goddess along the lines of Ishtar or the Morrigan. Half the Valkyriar were placed under her command; the senior half remained Odin's. In a post-Ragnarok setting, she's one of the few deities of her generation to survive. Sex/war goddess turned den mother to a pack of orphaned godlings? Adopting a semi-maternal role, but still able to summon up the old magic when necessary? Hmmm...PC concept for high-powered campaign...
  12. Re: Re: Off-Genre Characters: The Do's and Don'ts Fear not the wrath of the Galadhrim, Winterhawk; you are free to disagree. I'll concede this: the sword-and-sorcery archetypes are probably the hardest to make work in a supers genre, for precisely the reasons you describe. A time-tossed cowboy, a Jedi-analog, a Minbari-analog, even a caveman...I've seen them managed without too much difficulty. Fantasy types *do* have a low success rate. Marchwarden is working out well, it's true, but credit must be shared with an Oxford linguist turned author, a kiwi filmmaker, a cooperative GM and a great group of players. We end up with a Green Arrow who moves like Nightwing and talks a bit like Thor. The pieces all fit.
  13. I've noticed that a number of this board's users seem to harbor a pronounced dislike for the off-genre character, the kind who seem to be in the wrong game. Paladins, cowboys, Klingons...they catch a pretty bad rep. And yet, in a genre whose established icons include wizards, mutants, aliens, cyborgs, thunder gods and ninja masters, who can say what's "off-genre"? I've seen several such characters work out fine in the past; in fact, I'm playing one currently who seems to fit right in. I've come to believe that the "Annoying Off-Genre Character" problem stems not from which genre the character is drawn from, but rather from how the character is played. I've tried to codify what, IMO, separates an odious OGC from a successful one. 1. DO: Create OGCs who can do the job at hand. When Thor is with the Avengers, he acts like a superteam member (albeit one who talks funny). His mythological origin doesn't prevent him from understanding what the Avengers are supposed to do (defeat the bad guys, save the world). The team isn't constantly hampered by Thor insisting on doing "god stuff" instead of working with the team. His "Thunder God" schtick simply becomes a colorful character trait. 2. DO: Create an "amalgamation of settings". The Marvel and DC Universes have both linked satelite genres into their primary milieux. For instance, Gotham City, Paradise Island, Legion HQ and Jonah Hex's Wild West all share the same continuity, and so it's not hard to contrive a plot that could transfer characters andd plot seeds between them. For Marchwarden, the lynchpin was our team's nemesis group, the Crowns of Krim. Let's see: some huge evil bad guy was defeated at the end of a magical age long past, he's back, there are these evil artifacts of power which ultimately corrupt those greedy enough to accept them...there are enough points in common to adapt a certain other mythos so that the stories mesh. DO: Keep the OGCs in the minority (unless you'd enjoy playing Captain Bewildered and the Wheretheheckaretheyfroms!). One barbarian or Jedi among four mask-cape-and-spandex types won't spoil the flavor of the supers genre. Three out of four, and what you're really playing is a crossgenre game, a la TORG or Tales From the Floating Vagabond. If that's what everybody wants, fine; but if some of the people desired and expected a Supers game (not merely to play a super in an anything-goes game), those people will not be happy. DON'T: Play a specific pre-existing character. Actually playing Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker or Conan rarely works. It can be fine to amalgamate a few icons ("He's sort of a cross between Turin Turambar, Elric and Miyamoto Musashi"). It's also possible to use an original design but yield up the occasional homage: you might, say, design your own 30's pulp hero and occasionally borrow a line from Alan Quartermain, Indiana Jones or, argh, can't remember name, Brendan Fraser's character from "The Mummy". DON'T: In similar vein, avoid using unaltered settings unless your GM wants to add them to the existing gameworld. Being straight out of Star Trek is dubious; creating a Federation-like future setting that ties in with the current setting can actually enhance the campaign. DON'T: On the opposite end of the spectrum, don't be from a generic, undeveloped alternate genre. "I come from a fantasy world" usually doesn't work. Either work with your GM to create something from scratch, or take a preexisting world and modify it. Your thoughts?
  14. If she can simultaneously MI a basefull of soldiers plus a superteam, we're doomed anyway.
  15. Do you consider the mind class of a multiform character to be that of the current form or the true form? Example: My true form is human, but I turn into a wolf sometimes. While in wolf form, am I considered human class or animal class?
  16. The Robot's an obvious diversion. Still, it needs to be stopped. Defender, Radar Rider, Eternia: Stop the robot and deal with any immediate hazards its rampage may have created (overturned fuel truck, fire spreading towards munitions, injured soldiers etc.). Heartseeker, Marchwarden: Infiltrate the base and prepare a counterambush. Heartseeker's ninja mind-clouding techniques make her an excellent mentalist-hunter. Also, very few mentalists of the race of Men can affect Marchwarden's class of mind. She goes for the boss-lady, he shoots the weapons out of the lackeys' hands (don't want to hurt them; they might be innocent mind-puppets). Of course, she might be more subtle; perhaps instead of going right for the target she'll seize several high-ranking hostages and threaten to kill them if we don't release impulse and let them both go. In that case, Marchwarden keeps her talking (he's very good at that, and again, his thoughts are probably indecipherable to her, so she won't twig to what's up) until Heartseeker can pop out of the air ducts and take her out fast.
  17. I thought they were too low at first, but now that the group has learned to rethink old habits, I think that they encourage teamwork on several levels. - Many of the heavy-duty attacks (Haymaker, Rapid Fire, Sweep) impose serious DCV penalties. Pairing up and alternating normal attacks with held actions can dissuade villains from attempting the Mega Smackdown for fear of immediate CounterSmackdown. - Since even the most resilient characters have to be at least a little worried about super-level attacks, heroes learn to stick by each other. My group drills for scenarios like this. It's still not easy to whomp someone clean into GM's option, so if the PCs develop good "man down" tactics, a hero who's been Stunned or even KO'd - but can be protected for a phase or two - can get back into the fight. My character (high DCV and some defensive maneuvers, but nothing too heavy for armor) has been clocked rather heavily a few times, but he has never yet (knock on wood) finished a fight unconscious, because his teammates know exactly what to do when any given one of us goes down. Now, villains can use these tactics (and others which have already been mentioned), but overall I'd say that: - Overall, it favors the Heroes. Heroes, in general, tend to be more selfless and team-oriented, and more willing to train together. Villains, in general, tend to be more selfish, unstable and generally unlikely to put so much effort into teamwork. (This also means that exceptions, such as the War Machine, will gain extra intimidation power and maybe a little grudging respect) Also, giant solo villains, like the Monster or Grond, don't have anyone to work with ; This is a big asset when dealing with the heavyweights. - Overall it also favors the players. Combat is tense and exciting, and the need to cooperate solidifies the bonds of comradeship within the group.
  18. IMO, it largely depends on the nature of the characters involved. Are they a bunch of moody, obsessed vigilantes? Better spring a heavy threat that forces them to cooperate in order to survive. Are they all the sort of upstanding citizens who'd answer an appeal for service to the nation? Have the government announce its intentions to put together a sanctioned superteam. Do they share a common origin (all mutants, all experiment-gone-awry altered humans, all aliens etc.)? Have them all undergo the event together. They were all in the lab when the accident happened, they all came to Earth in the same crashed spaceship (fleeing a galactic catastrophe or an oppressive space empire), they all went to a school for "Gifted Youngsters" in upstate New York... They could all be related, either by blood or through social relationships in their alternate IDs.
  19. Hmm...let's see... DEFENDER (2018): Well, in the early days, his unofficial battlecry was: "All right team, let's...uh, team?" (We were a little uncoordinated at first. Also a little unused to 5th ed.'s lower defenses and more frequent attacks.) Later though... TELEIOS (to a group of cowering civilians): "How pathetic! You are entirely unfit! Entirely unworthy! Entirely unsuitable!" Then, from above: "But not entirely UNDEFENDED!!!!" The Perfect Man looks up just in time to face-block Defender's Move-Through. In the aftermath: SILVER AVENGER RAMIREZ: "PRIMUS! Everyone remain calm! Where's Teleios the Perfect Man?" LITTLE KID (from the crowd of civilians): "Defender just cleaned his Perfect Clock!" Heartseeker, being a ninja, doesn't really go in for battlecries. Neither does Eternia, being an underconfident escapee from Teleios' lab. Radar Rider's radiowave-control powers include a Change Environment that lets him blast the music of his choice from every speaker within 128 hexes, so he expresses himself that way. As he puts it: "Amplifiers speak louder than words!" Usually, he plays his own theme song, "Radar Rider" by Riggs from the soundtrack to the movie "Heavy Metal" (chorus: "Radar...radar...radar...R-R-R-RIder!"). Once, the Crowns of Krim were certain they'd seen the last of those pesky do-gooder's, when suddenly the Alleluia chorus of Handel's "Messiah" (at volume level eleven, of course) hit them from every direction as we sprang our ambush. The GM ruled that their "Susceptibility to holy objects and places" wasn't technically being trigged, but did rule that it constituted a highly effective Presence attack. And of course, after our initial team debut mission, as we victoriously if wearily emerged from the dust and smoke of the villains' HQ, there was a reporter on scene, narrating into her microphone: "And the threat appears to have been subdued. Those responsible for this heroic rescue are coming into view now...they remain as yet unidentified..." And Radar Rider couldn't pass up a cue like that. He gestured casually, and all speakers within earshot began to emit the immortal sounds of Queen: "Weeee...are the Champions, my fri-ends..." As for Marchwarden, his quotes aren't precisely original. When asked why he wanted to join the team: "Because, as is said among my kindred, there is truly no such thing as a Last Alliance." When battling the minions of Krim, his bowshots are accompanied by cries of "Aure entuluva!" (Day shall come again!) When we thought Eternia was dead: "Mornie...alantie..." (Darkness...has fallen...) And occasionally, the always-popular "A Elbereth Gilthoniel!" Needless to say, his claims of being "from New Zealand" are less than convincing.
  20. In "multi-reply" to Hermit and others: I can't believe I forgot to recomend that Defender learn Tactics. Pretty obvious. In fact, Oratory and Bureaucracy (for dealing with the media and the government, respectively) would also be good choices for an experienced team leader. Ironclad's defenses too low? Everyone's defenses are a bit light nowadays. However, as designated brick, he ought to at least be allowed to toughen up to the levels of the bricks in CKC (Ogre, Blackstar and their ilk). Nighthawk? Yes, he does kind of grow on you. Perhaps, though, his first couple of XP should be spent on KS: Fashion, so that he will realize that his costume needs help (cough) bird hat (cough).
  21. In Champions 2018: Radar Rider is idly surfing the Web, downloading music files, when on a casual search he finds a Champions fanfic/fanart site, with a newly updated section for the "new team". Coolishness! RADAR RIDER: "Hmm...oh. Marchwarden. Marchwarden. Marchwarden...oh hey! Radar Rider/Marchwarden! Front billing, even!" HEARTSEEKER: "Erm...R.R., yeh do know what the "slash" means, don't yeh?" RADAR RIDER: "EEEIIAAIII!!!!!" BASE AI: "I believe that he does now, Ms. Irwin."
  22. We ALSO had Super Heroes In Training. Best speech-bubble: "If you think you can get away with this, villain...then you obviously don't know $%/+!"
  23. Okay, this one was from last session, it makes sense if you've seen a certain film that pretty much the entire gaming community has seen... Radar Rider, the energy projection mutant, falls prey to the "Skeetworld Phenomenon". Put simply, the large number of published characters who combine Flight and 0-END, nonpersistent Force Fields into an EC, plus the lower defense levels of 5th Ed., plus the increased number of ways in which multiple attacks can be made in a phase, all add up to an entire class of characters who regularly seem to get blasted out of the sky at least once per game session. Anyway, this time Defender has no means of reaching him and so he plummets like a rock and smacks his stunned-and-therefore-non-Force-Fielded head against the pavement. What's worse, the cause of his fall was a well-aimed car hurled by the Monster, who is stalking over to him and flexing his claws. Marchwarden therefore leaps from the roof of a five-story building onto some telephone cables and runs along them, shooting off the last of his arrows to get the Monster's attention. Then he flings himself down onto the Monster with only his woodland knives, knowing that he's hideously outmatched but risking his butt anyway to save his teammate. Due to his ridiculous CVs and a lot of Martial Block rolls and Flying Dodges, he manages to survive long enough for Defender and Eternia to show up and administer the smackdown (Eternia is the Monster's worst nightmare: and irresistably lovely, innocent-eyed young woman who regenerates his worst attacks swiftly and is as strong as Grond). Anyway, Radar Rider takes a few recoveries and, a bit sheepishly, tells his pointy-eared teammate from "New Zealand": "Hey Marchwarden, I just, um, wanted to say thanks, you know, for..." The Marchwarden of the Galadhrim holds up a hand. "Pay it no mind, friend. Since ancient times, an alliance has existed between our two peoples. Long ago, we fought and died togeth-" "Dude, no way are you getting a hug!"
  24. I haven't seen Stingray. Pleasepleaseplease do Stingray. Much obliged.
  25. ANVERU T'KHAR - He's not really a bad guy. It's just that he's been in a long-term relationship that just went south, and he's kicking himself for not seeing it coming, and it also meant the end of his career and all his social contacts, and he's also secretly rather bitter that instead of just breaking things off in a private, honest conversation, she pulled her old trick of stranding the ex-to-be in a dimension she'd failed to conquer. Honestly, after 250,000 years together, you'd think he'd earned more considerate treatment than that. Anveru T'Khar, former Consort-Marshall of a Billion Dimensions, should come across as a reasonably sympathetic if slightly codependent type, who engages in battle and conquest mainly because it's the only job he's really known. Alternatively, he could aspire to be a hero, and be a foil in the PCs' sides - for one thing, he's not familiar with the local customs ("Let me explain this Code Vs. Killing thing we have..."), and might get a bit puppyish around an assertive and attractive heroine. He's got plenty of attractive qualities, but it's obviously a rebound relationship - the kind that never work out - and does she really want to be muddying the water's of Istvatha's past history?
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