Dynamo

Re: Limitations You Would Like to See More Often

Re: Limitations You Would Like to See More Often After a "Last Straw" incident back in the days of 4e, I added the following to a character's disad list: 0 Player will be thrown bodily out the front door upon failure of randomly scheduled Calculator Audit Three weeks later, he RAN out the front door halfway through my audit. I finished the gruesome task and calmly threw his stuff out on the front lawn. His character totalled over 900 points in a 150 base + 150 disad + ~75 xp game.

Re: what to do with a psychic gorilla What if other gorillas get smart around him, but only while he's present. Sort of like a psychic terminal connection, his software wringing every last bit of performance out of their hardware. Complications: Over time, the effect is detrimental to the normal gorillas. Over time, the effect becomes permanent, but results in insanity. The effect is temporary, and not only do the gorillas revert to normal in his absence, but when he returns there is no memory from the previous period of upgrade. More likely to be of import in a deep roleplaying campaign where the PCs get to know an upgraded gorilla and experience the tragedy of "personality death".

Re: Signature Power Campaign

Re: Signature Power Campaign Here's where I'm lucky to have built up some trust. I've beat their butts into the ground before and used it to further a good story. It comes from my tendency to let the dice fall where they may and adapt the story on the fly. Heck, a year ago, a run of 20s killed all their 1st level D&D characters on their third encounter. I called a munchie break and told them not to throw their characters away just yet. When they got back to the table, I'd promoted them to 2nd level, multiclassed with classes of my choosing. They woke up on slabs to the fading echoes of sacred chanting and were told that they'd been subjected to the Rite of Joining. Their departing souls had been united with those of another group who had failed in a quest, hence the added classes. They were now charged with the completion of the quest as payment for returning them to life. Then I jumped them past the encounters I'd planned to get them up to 2nd level and the plot hook to get into the quest in the first place, and dropped them right at the entrance to the catacombs. The other souls gave me an excuse to feed them info to expedite the plot and added a whole new dimension to the characters. And they were SO creeped out when they found the bodies... Actually, the villains should be pretty imbalanced themselves. See my "one-trick ponies" comment above. True the bad guys will frequently have guns and body armor, but the PCs can get those things too. I sure hope so.

Re: Signature Power Campaign Yeah, pretty much. These guys are second generation supers from a population of narrowly focused superbeings. The first generation are mostly one-trick ponies, though some have developed an array of power stunts. "1st Genners" all manifested their powers as adults (for reasons to be revealed as the plot progresses), and many have health difficulties due to side effects. However, they have all been recruited by various governments, corporations, and movements, and they all have extensive experience, both combat and power-use, and access to organizational resources. 2nd Genners have possessed actual powers or latent potential for most of their lives. Their bodies are better adapted, they tend to have greater raw power, and they use their powers more instinctively, but at first they'll be total neophytes and easy pickings for their elders. I intend to keep the PCs on the run as they learn about their enemies and then give them an opportunity to turn and fight.

Re: Signature Power Campaign Not quite the input I was looking for, but I'll take it in kind. The whole point of the exercise is to break the mold of the "standard" Champions game where characters frequently come out pretty similar when you look past the special effects. Everyone seems to have a standard attack at the campaign limit, defenses at the campaign limit, movement at the campaign limit, CV at the campaign limit. By chucking the concept of the "balanced character", meaning Def, CV, Spd, DC, and Move all in a mainstream range of values, I'm hoping to get PCs that let everyone feel super in their own way. That's the general idea, except it's too tied to the game mechanics. I want signature powers like Throws Flame, Gets Big and Strong, or Makes Ice. I also want to avoid shoehorning them into a "complete team" concept. If they want to take the initiative and do it to themselves, then OK, but I've always preferred letting players make the character they want as long as group fun is not negatively affected. If I can't craft a plot and/or an opposition that challenges the powers that they have rather than the powers I wish they had, then I need to turn in my GM card. Similarly, I'm looking forward to exploiting gaps and redundancies in their collective powers to create tension and other story opportunities.

Re: Signature Power Campaign It may be the single element that really lets this work. Oy. Luckily, this is a small group, so I can stay familiar with their powers. Last time we played Hero, I encouraged them to describe what they were attempting in non-game terms and broke it down into mechanics for them. I was pleasantly surprised at the stunts they came up with, given that none of them are big fans of comic books. I plan to have them build two versions of their characters; one at 250 pts with super powers, and one at any lesser value without. All abilities present on the normal version should remain on the super version unless the power concept includes the loss of some aspect of the character. So the librarian will probably have more points available for powers than the special ops agent, but the special ops agent should have better stats to deal with situations outside the realm of his power(s). This will be a "secret supers" game, with a very low population of superbeings operating in total secrecy, strategic assets exploited by governments and megacorporpations. I plan to use a lot of Heroic options, like not charging points for equipment, with a mix of Superheroic, like full knockback. Once I know more about their characters, I'll concoct a plan to get them in one place, give them several hints about their nature, and then throw some violence at them. The violence, in combination with other stimuli, will activate their latent powers, in a dramatic way if I can pull it off, and hopefully get them in trouble with the agency that has gathered them together. Then the turds can really start flying.

I'm starting a new campaign in the Spring, and I'm planning something a little fruity. I'd like to hear from anyone who has tried a similar scheme or just has some thoughts they'd like to share. First off, there will be no pre-established AP, DC, Spd, CV or other limits. Once all the characters have been submitted, they will be considered in comparison to one another, and tweaks will be suggested and/or required. Additionally, the players will be encouraged to choose a "signature power" or shtick. This can be a single Power or tightly defined suite. The more they screw themselves in other areas, the more I'll let them get away with in their shtick. Yes, I'm driving at deliberately unbalanced characters here. I use entirely home-brewed write-ups of opponents, both original and ripoff, so I'm not worried about balancing the PCs against published bad guys. Plus, I'm aiming at a roleplay and story driven game. My group is not made up of highly experienced Hero players. I've played since 1st edition, but my wife has played in two short Champions campaigns and the others in one, all with me as GM. We've played lots of GURPS and D&D together, with everyone trying their hand at being screen jockey, so we've built up a lot of trust that no one is on a power trip and working against the group's collective fun. So given the above, what stumbling blocks do you think I should be looking out for? I have a couple caveats in mind, but I'd like to just open the floor for general discussion.

Re: Super Names I'm not actually worried about it, just being wry. And yes, a few people went and gave me some PosiRep and brought me to an all-time high (for me, that is ). Thanks guys.

Re: Super Names

Re: Super Names

Re: Super Names

Re: Super Names

Reputation Wow, both good and bad rep for the list. I guess you really can't please everyone.

Roundup Zipfile EDIT (10/16/05): Fresh roundup posted

Roundup Team Appendix EDIT (10/16/05): Fresh roundup posted

Roundup Silly Appendix EDIT (10/16/05): Fresh roundup posted

Roundup Fuzzy Appendix EDIT (10/16/05): Fresh roundup posted

Roundup 5001-9226 EDIT (10/16/05): Fresh roundup posted

Roundup 0001-5000 EDIT (10/16/05): Fresh roundup posted

Re: Super Names I green-lighted Sk8r Boi because I felt the kewlified/L33t spelling actually matched well with the image of a contemporary skateboard-styled young hero. I'm working on a Roundup right now. Sorry about the long absence. I got my brain back after I graduated, but a long daily commute has snatched it away again. City of Heroes isn't helping either.

Re: If Champions didn't exist... Per Sean Punch, GURPS Powers will not be the Supers genre book for GURPS 4e. It's slated as a crunch book in the spirit of G:Vehicles or G:Ultra Tech. Word on the net is that a G:Supers for 4e has been pitched that will "fix all the problems with the previous editions" and "blow Hero/Champions away." I'll believe it when I see it. As much as I like GURPS for most genres, G:Supers has consistently disappointed me. If Champions didn't exist, I would be playing SAS for my superhero fix. It's one of two supers games I've played and really enjoyed system-wise* besides Champions. The other is Aberrant. I just picked up a copy of M&M, and it looks promising, but I've yet to take it for a test drive. * Had a great time playing V&V, but that was the GM and other players. The game itself is a non-system of poorly designed, arbitrary rules. This same GM ran a game on a 4-day road trip with no dice, paper, or rules, and the whole van-full of us had a fabulous time. Pure talent.

Re: Need help with speedster New player? Keep it relatively simple. Lots of Dex, Spd, and Running plus a Multipower of straightforward Speedster Tricks. For instance: A suite of Advantaged HtH Attacks, AP for "Hypersonic One-Punching," extra KB for "Put Your Weight Behind It," AoE for "Punch Them All, Let God Sort 'Em Out," and the like. Stretching with "Must be able to reach target on foot" Limitation for "Detour Attack." Megascale Running for "Really Pour It On." Self-only Healing for "Metabolic Acceleration." Sounds like rich options with all the mechanics pre-calculated will probably make this guy a convert to Herodom.

Re: Need help naming Enviornmentalist team. With a Druid in charge, I would make the name pagany and "high-minded" sounding, the sort of name that could very well belong to a benevolent organization. They will consider themselves the good guys after all, and so will many others. Worldmaker's use of Gaea, rather than its alternative Gaia, also gives a new-agey feel that could be appropriate. I would also make the name suggest militance somewhat. For instance: Wardens of Gaea