rjcurrie

Re: What should be DROPPED from HERO?

The Five Powers approach is a good idea ...

... if you want Hero to have an even smaller market share than they already do.

Given that many people already feel that you need to do too much work as a GM before you can use Hero, can't you imagine how they would react when you tell them that you have to basically design the system first as well.

Also, in order to make such a system really work, you would need to change everything to either be addition or multiplication not the mixture of the two that now exists. Unless you are saying that the GM defines all Powers in his game and those are the only ones allowed with no further modification.

For example, if one GM defines Flight as Movement in Air that costs No END -- giving a base cost of (Move Cost) * (1 + Flight Adv +No END Adv) while another GM defines Flight as Movement in Air that costs END for a cost of (Move Cost) * (1 + Flight Adv). Now, if in the second GM's campaign, a player wants Flight with No End, then he needs to buy the No END Advantage, for which he will effectively pay ((Move Cost) * (1 + Flight Adv)) * (1 + No END Adv) which will yield a different number than what the player in the first campaign paid.

There also problems based on what a GM chooses as the base unit for a Power. For example, in one campaign, the GM chooses 1" as the base unit of Flight. If we assume that Movement costs 1 points per inch and Flight is a +3/4 Advantage, then one unit of Flight would cost (1 * (1 + 3/4)) or 1.75 points which would round to 2 points per 1" and 10" would cost 20 points. If, however, another GM choses 10" as the base unit of Flight, then the cost would be 17.5 points which rounds to 18 points for 10". And these problems would still exist even if you went to a fully multiplicative system.

Rod

Re: Adding value to COM

I'm afraid I don't really see the difference between having the COM stat and having a COM talent and I find having the COM stat is quicker for checking how good looking the character is.

Re: Building the Necronomicon

But just because you are using Dark Champions as the basis for your game, doesn't mean that you can't borrow some of the ideas and techniques presented in Horror Hero.

Re: If Champions didn't exist...

I think that Champions has had such a major impact on the design of so many games in the genre that if it had never existed, who knows what route superhero game design might have taken? Would someone else have come up with the idea of having "Advantages" and "Limitations" to Powers? Or what about "Disadvantages"? I believe both of these were either invented (in the case of "Advantages" and "Limitiations") or significantly refined (in the case of "Disadvantages") by Champions. If no one else came up with these ideas, I suspect the whole field would look considerably different, so it's impossible to say what superhero game I would be playing -- if I was role-playing at all.

Re: A Very Champion Christmas

Or CLOWN.

CLOWN doesn't like paying the royalties to Foxbat for the use of ping pong guns.

Re: Party!

As usual for this sort of thread, I'll use the characters of my SuperSquad America convention team (many of which are former PCs of mine). Note this reflects my opinions of what they would spend their spare time doing. Players in my convention events should feel no need to adhere to this.

Silver Bow really doesn't have much spare time. She is fairly driven both as a superhero and in her secret ID as an investigative reporter. When she gets a chance, she likes to spend some time visiting her parents in the extradimensional world where they live.

Diva was a superpowered celebrity fitness model (and expert) before she became a superhero and when she's not fighting crime, she spends some of her time still living that life: fancy parties, dating the hottest bachelors in town, appearances on talk shows, etc. She also spends a fair amount of time working out.

Challenger spends a fair amount of his non-superhero time running Kennedy Industries, the company he owns. However, he also makes sure to spend time with his wife, Dianne. Their time together is often private quiet time where they simply enjoy each other's company. Of course, this could include anything from snuggling on the couch watching a movie to taking the company jet to Paris for an evening on the town.

Rick Davies the Resilient Rubber-Man is a self-confessed geek. At work, he is a biological researcher, specializing in superhero genetics. For fun, he likes to read comic books and science fiction, watch sf movies and TV, and playing the occasional role-playing game. It helps that his wife, Anita (Swift Kick) is also a sf fan. These days, of course, they both enjoy playing with their son.

Swift Kick (aka Anita Dupuis Davies) is Rick's wife. As mentioned above, she is a sf fan like her husband. She is also a pratical joker and often uses her shape-shifting powers to aid in that area. In the past, she occasionally worked as an actress, but these days being just a mother and superhero often fills up her days.

Fast Track (formerly Whiz Kid) is a Physics researcher at work. For fun, he is often quickly switching between several tasks on his computer (video games, research, programming, or just surfing the web) occasionally taking time out to tinker with his latest invention, all whiile watching TV and listening to music.

Nightingale is just finishing up nursing school and is considering going to medical school. When she's not busy with her studies, she enjoys hanging out with friends and learning all about America and its culture -- all the stuff she missed out on when growing up in a Tibetan temple.

Forethought works as a secretary at Kennedy Industries when she's not superheroing. In her spare time, she enjoys watching movies -- both old and new. And of course, now that Crimson Fist is back from the dead, she also enjoys spending time with him.

Crimson Fist is a theatre lighting designer and technician. Now that he is back from the dead, he is trying to appreciate all the little things life has to offer. He enjoys plays, movies, pool, and bowling. However, mainly, he enjoys spending time with Forethought.

Re: Speeding things up

Here are things that I find speed things up without doing anything to modify the way the game is played (such as replacing dice rolls with pre-rolled results):

• Have the GM prepare a Combat Record Sheet which shows all the possible characters in a combat or combats in DEX order and which phases they act in. With this, the GM can simply call out who's up (and possibly, who's up next so they can start thinking). If you simply call out phases and DEXes, you'll be there forever.
  
• Declare levels and maneuvers but don't calculate OCV, then roll to hit. A lot of times, it is obvious whether the roll hits or not. If it is not obvious, then work it out.
  
• When counting pips on the dice, group the dice in groups of 10.
  
• When counting BODY, simply count the number of 6's and the number of 1's: BODY=number of dice rollled + number of 6's - number of 1's.
  
• If counting dice takes too long, perhaps you should get some simple Arithmetic flash cards and spend a few hours on improving your group's addition skills
  

Rod

Re: Goofy Villains

A silly group that I want to use some day is Jack 'N' Apes -- basically, a somewhat madcap villain named Jack with a team of intelligent apes.

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

I just don't get it. Why is a guy playing a female character (vice versa) any more of a problem than a human playing an elf? Or for that matter, someone who has never been outside downtown Manhattan playing a farm boy from Kansas? And if you've never been a nuclear physicist, should you be allowed to play one in a game? In fact, should you be allowed to play anyone other than yourself?

Re: The Meta X MR Wild Card Gene Syndrome Virus is Female Dominant!

My experiences are very similar to Zornwil's. I have never seen a problem with cross gender play and, in fact, when I first came across the idea that some people did not allow it, I was surprised. It would have never even occurred to me. Several other local gamers, to whom I have mentioned the concept of GMs not allowing or discouraging cross gender play, were similarly surprised.

At conventions, you constantly see cross gender play. I have never seen a GM discourage or ban it. In fact, my main convention game, SuperSquad America, currently features a team that has 5 women and 3 men (and that team has never had less than 3 women). As a result, male players often end up playing female characters and, occasionally female players end up playing male characters -- even though the lower percentage of female gamers at cons and the high percentage of female characters in my game usually means that females could almost always play females if they wanted to. I have rarely seen a problem -- most of the bad players of female characters would have played male characters just as badly -- and have never received a complaint about the ratio of characters available or about how anyone played a character of the opposite gender.

Just my two cents worth,

Rod

In the FAQ, you mention that the Imitation adder for Shape Shift replaces the need for Disguise and Mimicry Skills when imitating a specific person (assuming, of course, that the character has bought Shape Shift to affect the Sight and Hearing sense groups). However, what happens when you want to just imitate a general type of person. For example, the Shape Shifter wants to look like a Nazi -- not a specific Nazi, but just a general run-of-the-mill uniformed Nazi. Does the Imitation adder let the Shape Shifter automatically get the details of the uniform correct even if the face is just a generic Aryan face? And does it let him do a believable German accent? Or does the Shape Shifter need the Disguise and Mimicry to accomplish this?

Rod

Re: Good "Four of a Kind"'s...

The Four Tarot Card Suits:

Cups

Wands

Pentacles

Swords

Re: Trolling for suggestions, 1982-style.

Incidentally, for the TV-inclined, here is the Fall 1982 Prime Time TV schedule:

http://www.inthe80s.com/prim8283.shtml.

Re: GM's "rights"

I always write my character backgrounds from the character's point of view. I may make occasional suggestions about things the GM may want to do with loose ends, but I really don't want to know. I like to be surprised. If I say I'm an only child then from the character's point of view that is the truth. That is what he has always believed and what he has always been told. Now whether the people who told him this were telling the truth is another matter altogether. But if it isn't true, I want to discover it as the characters do -- I don't want the GM to come to me and say "I'm going to be introducing the fact that you actually have a sister who (for whatever reason) you never about and she's a supervillain. Is that okay?" To me that spoils the thrill of discovery.

With that being said, however, a GM needs to tread carefully and try to make sure that such changes are interesting enough to the players to warrant changing a character's known history. Probably, the best bet for the GM is to have an idea how each player feels about such things in general -- either from previous experience or from pre-game discussions -- and handle each player, appropriately.

As for the actual game stats, the GM, of course, has the right to request any changes to a character (or outright reject a character) -- including background -- to make sure that the character fits the game and the game world. Ideally, this should be a back and forth between the GM and the player with the GM making suggestions and requests and the player implementing them as that player feels is appropriate until both are happy. Of course, the GM should be prepared for the fact that the player may decide to move on to a different character because the modifications required to win approval may result in a character the player no longer wants to play.

Re: The (Super) West Wing

It's not unheard of (in some organizations, anyway) for underlings to tender their resignations when there is someone new in charge (especially if they take over in mid-stream) so that the new boss can make desired changes without having to fire people. So I suspect that you will see both Toby and Josh (who both now work for C.J.) resign only to be rehired.

Rod

Re: Updated SuprSquad America Web Site

Cool, Death Tribble. Do you remember what year you played?

Actually, if anyone on these boards ever plays in one of my adventures, please be sure to introduce yourself so I can put a face to your name on the board.

Hi Folks:

I have updated my SuperSquad America web site with up-to-date character histories, new art, and the brand-spanking-new SuperSquad America forums.

The SuperSquad America web site has a new URL:

http://www.supersquadamerica.com

Rod Currie

Re: PLEASE ! No more 'What would your character do ?' threads

Would either of you like a WWYCD Question thread and a WWYCD Answer thread so that you can check the latest question with a single click' date=' and only answer if you feel like it?[/quote']

The answer thread would also be a pain to read because even if the answerers specifically noted which question they were answering, you'd have to wade through the answers to questions you didn't care about to get to the answers you did care about. Personally, I find it much easier to wade through thread titles than to wade through threads themselves.

Re: PLEASE ! No more 'What would your character do ?' threads

I guess I'm fairly alone in the general opinion that I would rather see more threads than less. Particularly, if the thread titles were carefully chosen to reflect their contents. For example, as I mentioned earler, I think WWYCD threads should give a summary of the question in the title.

I would find it much easier to scan over two or three pages of well-defined thread titles and pick out the ones I might want to read rather than a page of vaguely titled and almagamated threads whose titltes give me no idea at all whether or not I might want to read the thread. Often, given the choice between reading or not reading a poorly titled thread, I will choose not to read it.

Rod

Re: Wanted - old Adventurers Club magazines

Liaden, Lord of the Links strikes again.

Re: PLEASE ! No more 'What would your character do ?' threads

While there may have been a few too many lately, I am loathe to suggest to other posters what they should post about and don't particularly like it when people do it to me. I am quite capable of scrolling through multiple pages if needed. The WWYCD posts are definitely on topic and sometimes I find them interesting although I would prefer them to be tittled better by putting a summary of the question to be asked in the thread title -- that way you can quickly tell whether they are of interest and if you have already looked at it and want to check in with it again.

Rod

Re: [Meta] What would your character be?

Hmmm. I usually use my SuperSquad America characters for these threads and they're in a somewhat middle-ground campaign, so I'll do them both ways:

Four-color:

• Challenger: Instead of being a patriotic superhero trying (and not always succeeding) to live up to his great father's legacy, he would be a patriotic hero who was successfully carrying on that legacy.
  
• Rick Davies, the Resilient Rubber-Man: He probably actually did receive his powers from falling into a vat of experimental rubber rather than being a product of super-soldier program whose later subjects had been kidnapped and brainwashed into being villians.
  
• Silver Bow: Her superhero parents wouldn't have been murdered by a 13 year old junkie looking for cash. Instead, they would have simply retired when she took over. She would also have a CVK and wouldn't be worried about cleaning up the scum of the streets, concentrating more on traditional supervillains.
  
• Forethought: Her powers would have simply triggered when she matured rather than triggering as a result of a near rape that left her confidence somewhat shattered.
  
• Whiz Kid (now Fast Track): Would not turn into a time travelling supervillain in one possible future and thus would not have to worry about that possibility.
  
• Nightingale: Probably not much different at all.
  
• Diva: Would probably have become a superhero almost immediately after gaining her powers, rather than spending several years as a super celebrity.
  
• Swift Kick: Would probably still be called Madam Morph, because no one care if the name gave away her shape-changing powers rather than keeping them secret. She would have never been kidnapped, brainwashed, and turned into a supervillain for several years.
  
• Crimson Fist: Would have been granted his powers by a benevolent scientist rather than a supervillain who killed his girlfriend.
  

Iron Age:

• Challenger: Would slowly discover that his father's great superheroic career was just a cover for his real job as a government assassin.
  
• Rick Davies, The Resilient Rubber-Man: Since he was created by a project overseen by Challenger's father, he was likely created as a government weapon and programmed to be a flashy, publicity-seeking hero. However, upon a trigger word, he would become the government's willing pawn.
  
• Silver Bow: Would not use any speciality arrows, but would instead just use her deadly arrows to execute scum like the junkie who killed her parents.
  
• Forethought: Would have been gang-raped and literally turned off the brains of the lot of them when the act triggered her mental powers. She would not be worried at all about invading others because she would feel that if those men could freely violate her physically, there's no reason why she shouldn't freely violate others mentally.
  
• Whiz Kid (Fast Track): Would be doing everything possible to become the powerful time traveller that he knows he will be in the future. After all, with that kind of power, he can make over the world the way he wants it to be. He would be using his vast intelligence to manipulate things so that the future where he is Time Twister is guaranteed to come about. This might include injecting his own mother with cancer so that she would be sure to die.
  
• Nightingale: Instead of being turned over by a caring priest to a group of Tibetan mystics to raise, she would have been turned over to a cult of Tibetan assassins by a corrupt priest. While she would have some healing abilities, she would have also been trained to use those same abilities to inflict harm. The cult would have sent her as a spy to infiltrate the superhero team.
  
• Diva: Would be into superheroing only for the cash that could be made. She would have little concern for puny humans except when she is paid to protect them. Rather than a middle class African American upbringing, she would have been raised as a African American militant.
  
• Swift Kick: No one know of her shape-changing abilities. While she would still be a kidnapped subject of the project that created Rick Davies, he would not know her as such. Also, instead of being kidnapped by an organization of European mad scientists, she would have been kidnapped by a more serious-minded group of would-be European dictators and sent to American as a martial artist to infiltrate the hero group so that her bosses could learn how to stop them if need be. She would also use her shape-changing abilities to obtain other information to support her bosses' goals.
  
• Crimson Fist: His crimson energy field is recharged by the blood of his defeated foes.
  

Re: Looking at the Iron/Silver Age threads (not a flame)

That story is as "real" and as "dark" as they get' date=' but it's still a story about a HERO. And that, I think, is what is important. That a story about superHEROES have people who are HEROES.[/quote']

One of my favorites. It also features one of my favorite series of lines in comics. Basically, the Avengers have joined the fight and Daredevil is narrating:

 

(Referring to Captain America giving orders): He has a voice that could command a god.

(Cutting to shot of Thor cutting lose): And it does.

Re: Looking at the Iron/Silver Age threads (not a flame)

I kind of a middle-grounder myself. A good example is my SuperSquad America convention event. I think the characters are very close to silver age marvel or late silver age DC (Fantastic Four, classic X-men, Wolfman and Perez's New Teen Titans, Infinity Inc. just to name a few). Many of the characters have tragedies in their backgrounds that have moved them towards being a superhero but then so do many classic superheroes (Batman, Spider-man, Superman, etc.) but they are still true heroes. About the only characters I have used that some might doubt their superhero status are Friction Lass who was a spoiled rich brat who superheroed for fun (and who I moved off the team several years ago) and Silver Bow, whose superhero parents were murdered in their bed by a thirteen year old junkie looking for cash leaving her with a desire to clean up the scum of the streets and has no CVK; however, this is tempered by her being torn between the superheroic values taught to her by her parents.

With all that, I have had villains who were murdering superheroes and often try to ask difficult questions for the characters to answer. A few examples:

• A supervillain says his machine can save the life of the world's first and greatest superhero who is dying of cancer but only by taking the life of another superbeing. Time is running out and the only superbeings nearby are SuperSquad. The group's telepath verfiies the villain believes he is telling the truth. Is anyone on the team willing to give their life to save the great hero?
  
• An organization of mad scientists has a stolen technology that they have modified to destabilize superbeings' powers. After defeating the main mad scientist and reclaiming the technology. another of the mad scientists appears on a view screen revealing he has kidnapped the team's administrative assistant (who is also the leader's girlfriend) and wants the technology back in exchange for releasing her. What should the team do?
  
• The heroes find themselves before the empty Template Throne. Whoever sits on the throne shall provide the template for the tone of life on earth. Who sits on the throne?
  
• After defeating a time travelling supervillain who is revealed to be a possible future version of one of the team, the team can use the villain's time machine to make one trip into the past and back again. Do they use it? And if so, for what? Do they stop Adolf Hitler? Do they prevent one of the tragedies in their own pasts?
  

I tend to describe my approach as "five color" Champions: four colors plus a touch of grey.

Re: All the superhero PCs I've ever played

Chronological order is very rough on these and I may have forgotten a few:

Silver Bullet (V&V)

Professor Plasma (V&V)

The Dragon (Superworld -- Worlds of Wonder version)

Phantom Lobster (V&V)

Professor Plasma (Champions)

Brainstorm (later The White Hand) (Champions)

Rick Davies the Resilent Rubber-Man (Champions)

Challenger (Champions)

Whiz Kid (Champions)

Swift Justice (V&V)

The Bat (V&V)

Gauntlet (Champions)

Crimson Fist (Champions)

Silver Bow (Champions)

Crimson Ace (Champions)

Rapport (Champions)

Friction Lass (Champions)

Dynamo (Champions)

Forethought (Champions)

Lady Lightning (Champions)