MrWolf

"chest pains"... such an innocuous pair of words, yet people do take them seriously. Sometimes overly so. My wife's father (56?) recently had severe chest pain, and had stents put in. He's doing fine so far. Both me and my wife, on the other hand, are 32. And we've had what could be described as chest pain (although not severe) for a while. Soooo... we both get a little paranoid. Paranoid enough that it actually causes my wife's blood pressure to rise pretty severely, so much so in fact that she goes to the hospital last Friday. We spend a pretty much worthless night in the hospital, where her blood pressure refuses to come down to normal levels... funny that, when she frelling hates hospitals, and they woke her (us, since they didn't make me leave, hurray for being married!) about every two hours... yeah, that helped. Oh, and they didn't feed her Friday night, either, as she was in the ER for 7 hours and it was after 6:30 pm before she got a bed... fortunately, when I ran home to get her insurance information and some books for us to read, I grabbed some food... otherwise, she'd have had nothing since Friday breakfast. Hurrah for hospitals. So... instead of staying through until Sunday like they suggest, she wants to get checked out on Saturday. Good so far, and they let her go, while of course getting her to sign a document waiving their liability. Good enough. Monday... we use the federal holiday and day off for both of us to visit the doctor. I'm also having some odd tightness in my chest, so I see a doc as well. My problem... unknown yet, but may be allergy-related due to inflammation of the lungs. Her problem... she more-or-less had a panic attack. Funny how having medtechs rushed to the office of your boss, on your boss' orders, and being taken to the hospital on a gurney can spike your bloodpressure tremendously... ... fortunately, our hearts appear to be just fine. Hospitals are great... IF you're actually dying. I still, however, hate the medical insurance industry. And we both have medical insurance through our jobs.

Dealing with some people occasionally reminds me of a song by semi-local DC/Baltimore artist Mary Prankster: "You're wrong... I'm right... and that won't change not even if we fight".

Yep. Good stuff... I'm enjoying having Spike around... although I frelling HATE Andrew. He's, if anything, more annoying now.

'Reincarnation Man'... well. He's a reluctant super, and his powerset changes every time he dies... which is frequently. My first instinct: he'd be happy that the rest of the superheroic idiots he has to deal with on a regular basis are out of his hair, and go back to his regular life. He'd love that, but... if he wakes up with powers, he wouldn't. But he'd sure love it... and it would be highly tempting for a few minutes. What he'd really do... is use his detective skills to try to piece together what happened, and see about getting other heroes to help out.

By the way, what supplement is The Idiot King *in*? He's not in any of the books I have, I think...

'Reincarnation Man' ... well, he gets different powers every time he dies. (Yeah, that 'recovers from death' power gets good use in the current campaign... as I'm the designated redshirt. Which is interesting.) So power-wise, "you never know what you're gonna get". Personality wise, though... he'd either try to talk the guy down or at least get him to point the gun at him, get the supervillain to take HIM as a hostage ... hey, he both regenerates and comes back from the dead... or just shoot/punch the supervillain. {shrug} It's a cat. He'd save it if he can, but if it gets shot... he'll apologize profusely to the owner, offer to pay for medical treatment if it's salvagable, and feel bad about letting the critter get hurt/killed. But it's not like it's gonna traumatize him forever.

Check out The Law is a Ass sometime... http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/law/ He did a whole bunch of articles on comic situations and the law.

Hmm. I have three active PCs going right now... One, with electromagnetic powers, would probably try to confiscate the gun. Unless the non-victim had a decent strength, he would find it magnetically removed from his possession, to be turned in to the police, along with the mugger. He might give the non-victim a stern talking to, also, about removing evidence. Another one, who worked as a police detective... would probably just silently applaud and hold on to the mugger for the police. He would try to get a good description of the guy, but he's more of a metacop... if the non-victim didn't have powers, it might not even register. I do have one guy, 'Reincarnation Man', currently metahuman but also working as a private detective, who would 1) get fingerprints from the mugger before the police show up, 2) tail the non-victim to see where he goes, try to get a license plate, etc, 3) find out if the non-victim has a criminal record. If not... he'll most likely drop it. (I envision something like Corbin Dallas confiscating the gun from the guy who tried to mug him in his apartment in The Fifth Element ... if so, rock on, sez I). I didn't know the bit about 'cold iron', although it makes perfect sense.

Eh, it varies. In the campaign I'm currently playing in, with Cyragnome as GM... he's running Freedom City from Mutants & Masterminds with the Champions rules... it's actually kinda fun, since I don't own Freedom City and it's all new to me, unlike most Champions materials. We have: a billionaire martial artist type, who wears body armor; a street-smart martial artist / gadgeteer who wears body armor; a woman with ice powers, with skintight blue costume (and in an interesting stroke, a trade of a Secret Id for a Public ID and an endorsement contract with... an Iced Tea company, I think); a female Thor-type who has inherent weather powers, but can also change into a brick-form Valkyrie, who recently received a 'spear and magic helmet'; and then we have my character. He's a street-level private detective, who doesn't particularly like supers nonsense, of Indian heritage by way of Britain... ... who recently found he can die and be reborn (up to 3 times a day, although he doesn't know that fact yet...), with a VPP to represent gaining a different set of powers each time. I call him "Reincarnation Man" as a tag (NOT a codename!), sort-of a combination of the Resurrection Man from DC, and Croyd Crenson - the Sleeper from Wild Cards. Technically, he can get an 'ectoplasmic' costume with each change, but I haven't done much with that effect. I envisioned it as basically getting powers at random, although in practice i write up a set I'd like to use, and then let the GM or dice roll choose. But long story short, I envisioned him without a set costume, the standard trench-coat plainclothes detective type most of the time. Sometimes costumes make sense. Sometimes, not so much. Depends on the campaign.

"Pretty sneaky, sis."

Strike Force, VOICE, Ninja Hero, BBB.

I didn't buy it... I'm getting kind of picky about which supplements I buy, actually, since I used to buy almost everything Champs related, and have most of the previously-published stuff. I will say that if maps were made available in PDF format, that could be easily printed out... I'd buy 'em.

Hah... and actually the cowboy Vigilante *was* the original, not Adrian Chase. He was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, along with Shining Knight and others. But if he isn't dead he should be, since he was a hero in the 1940s... /obscure All-Star Squadron reference.

Aquagirl (Tulla, Aqualad's girlfriend) got killed in the Crisis... Terra may be dead, it's hard to say... I saw a few issues where it might have been her, it might have been a clone... I never knew what the resolution on that was. Most of the original Doom Patrol: Negative Man, Elasti-Girl, and The Chief (Niles Caulder). (I used to be a big Titans fan, and Mento, one-time foe of the Doom Patrol married Elasti-Girl, and they adopted Gar Logan, who went on to become The Changeling.) Cliff Steele (Robotman) lived, though. Colossus died of the Legacy Virus, to "give the world a cure". Feh. Um... Superman "died", but somehow I don't think that counts... ... it's hard to think of many more, although apparently Donna Troy died recently, pre the new "Outsiders" book...

Syberdwarf ... I never actually used them in a scenario, but I came up with some names for Klan supers, like: Burning Cross (fire powers, damage shield) White Power (no idea, but the name is begging to be used)

Only nit-pick I noticed in there... you want a max initial OCV of 10 (including martial maneuvers)... not unreasonable. Max initial DCV of 10, including martial maneuvers... remember that Martial Dodge gives a +5 DCV bonus. That would limit those who have it to no more than a 15 DEX (which might be reasonable), but if they had skill levels, they'd need less than a 15 DEX. Y'might want to leave it as max initial DCV 10 (including Dex and levels, which is pretty darned good) but *not* including bonuses from martial maneuvers... or deal with what I just mentioned some other way. DCV 15 (max 'native' DCV + 5 from martial dodge) is very very hard to hit, but DCV 13 (from 'native' max DCV + 3 from regular dodge)... isn't that much easier to hit. Or don't let people buy Martial Dodge. One of the two. YMMV.

{cracks virtual knuckles, and ponders} a martial artist that can fly via a battlesuit/powered armor/super suit/what have you... i.e. not inherent wings, so no Angel... ... and as an added option, the armor should be either magical or technological.

Why, yes. Disclaimers: no Hero Designer, I'm kinda lazy about writing up backgrounds and disads (although I have a few), and I'm working without the benefit of books, so don't be surprised if the math is a little off (I don't remember the cost for LS: Self-contained breathing, for instance...) She might also need a few perks to represent her business {shrug} Without further adieu, I give you... "Mercy". Mercy Value Char Cost 8 STR -2 18 DEX 24 13 CON 6 10 BODY 23 INT 13 11 EGO 2 13 PRE 3 14 COM 2 3 PD 1 3 ED 4 SPD 12 5 REC 26 END 21 STUN Cha cost: 61 Powers and skills cost: 214 Total Cost: 275 The Mercy Gun 40 Multipower OIF - Mercy Gun 60 pt pool (OIF due to being mounted on her body armor) 4 u Web I capturing webline: 6d6 DEF 6 Entangle (4 clips of 8x) 4 u Web II capturing webnet: 3d6 DEF 3, Area 3" Radius - (4 clips of 8x) 4 u Knockout gas I: 6d6 NND (4 clips of 8x) 4 u Knockout grenade: 3d6 NND, Area 3" Radius (4 clipx of 8x) 4 u Beanbags: 4d6 EB vs PD, STUN only no KNB -0, Autofire-5 +1/2, 4 clips of 30x, Penetrating +1/2 4 u Web III deflecting webline: Missile Deflection at range +1, +10 to roll (deflection via 'webline') 0 END 3 u Web IV grabing webline: Stretching 8", 0 END +1/2, no noncombat -1/4, always direct -1/4 ('webline') 0 END 1 u Web V traveling webline: 20" Swinging 20 +4 with ranged combat 30 Armor (15, 15) OIF body armor 8 +5 PD, +5 ED IIF padded suit 5 LS: self-contained breathing OIF body armor 6 Fast: +3" Running 6 Some Duct Tape (just in case) 3d6 DEF 3 Entangle, OAF -1, 4x -1, gestures -1/4, takes extra time 1 turn (-1.5) Aikido 4 Dodge +5 to DCV 4 Block +2 OCV, +2 DCV 3 Throw STR + v/5 "the faster they are the harder they fall" 5 2d6 NND nerve pinch/strike 9 Breakfall 13-, Contortionist 13-, Lockpicking 13- 3 KS: Aikido 14- 9 +3 levels with aikido 5 Strong Will: 10 Mental Defense 3 Scientist 8 SC: Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, Biochemistry 14- 3 KS: Nonlethal weaponry 14- 3 PS: Mechanical Engineer 14- 3 Inventor 14- 9 Criminology 14-, Security Systems 14-, Computer Programming 14- Disadvantages 20 Psych: Code vs Killing (total) 10 Psych: Shy (common, moderate) 5 Phys: Nearsighted: needs glasses/contacts to compensate 20 Hunted: some villain pissed off at her capturing him, like, say, Bulldozer... 20 DNPCS: employees, normal, 8-, group DNPC "dammit boss...it's a good thing you pay well" -0 No Particular ID (I'm lazy at writing up disads, plus I don't have the book with me). Base points: 150 Disadvantages: 75 Non-lethal superhero bonus: 50 Mercedes LaMarck, aka "Mercy" Height: 5'4" Weight 135 lbs Hair: brown Eyes: brown Origin: Mercy was a bright child, who was always tinkering with this and that. She grew up to become a brilliant scientist and inventor, who owns her own small business, designing non-lethal weaponry for police, the military, etc. She has 6 employees: John Reyes and Mindy Koch, fellow researchers; Liz Steubing, receptionist, accountant, office manager, and all-around go-to person; David Breckenridge, lawyer, marketer, and salesman all rolled into one; Larry Johnson, computer support; Cameron Hodgkins, business manager. Her parents are still alive, she has no extremely traumatic incidents in her past that made her into a superhero, she just thinks it's the right thing to do -- plus, she gets to field-test new weapons. She is, however, very much a normal human under the armor, and if the armor is taken away, she's not terrifically powerful... but is smart, double-jointed, and an aikido expert. Appearance: Unremarkable, but relatively cute, woman, age 30, in glasses. Seeing her on the street, you probably wouldn't look at her twice. At work, she usually wears jeans and a t-shirt - her workplace dresscode is very informal. In body armor, she looks like a vision in shiny silver, with a large launcher strapped to her left arm - she's also left-handed. Personality: She is dedicated to fighting crime, but she is obsessed with creating non-lethal weaponry. She would just as soon be in the lab developing a new weapon or capability as socialize with other people. She is also an expert in aikido. Powers/Tactics: Out of armor, she either tries to throw people, use her nerve strike, or stay out of harm's way (block, dodge). Normal bank robbers or thugs beware, she's very much willing to take them out with aikido, then tie them up with Some Duct Tape that she habitually carries around with her -- of her own design, of course. In armor, she fights primarily with her launcher, using webs and knockout gas, or an autofire beanbag-blast against those who need it... with Penetrating, it can even take out strongly-defended adversaries after a while. She can deflect projectiles with webs, grab and manipulate with webs, and swing on a webline. Spider-Man is one of her greatest (fictional) heros.

Speaking as a GM, yeah, I'd probably make you buy invisibility on the STR and Stretching, and possibly on the Flight. Flight's an odd one, because a lot of supers just fly (say, Superman or Captain Marvel) and it's not shown in any way HOW they fly.

These guys seem tres nasty... what kinda PCs do you run them against?