1corpus christopher

I recently watched a documentary series on Hulu called "Hitler: The Lost Tapes of the Third Reich" that came out this year, 2023.
 
A couple excerts from this series:
 
"I think it's hard for us to imagine someone being on trial for treason, and just less than a decade later, being made Chancellor of the country."
 
Quote of an on-camera historical expert speaking about the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany by President Von Hindenburg in 1932.
 
 
"We must make Germany Great again!"
 
 
Common used slogan words of Adolf Hitler as he was rising to power during his speeches of the mid-1920s.
 
 
i say, "No, it's not hard to imagine this Chancellor appointment today. 
 
And doesn't that slogan sound verrrry similar to someone we hear about today who's running for U.S. President again?"

Hitler was thought of as a clown by many German Nazi Party opponents until 1934, and the "Night of Long Knives" occurs. And by much of the rest of the world until 1936, when he tears up the Versailles Treaty and re-militarizes the Rhineland.
 
 
This is a phenomenon that historians call "The Underestimation Syndrome"
 
My point being:
 
Adolf Hitler did not make all those political moves on his own back in the 1920's and 30's. Nor of course the military maneuvers.
 
 
November 8-9 is the 100th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.

Anyone with a passing knowledge of history can recognize what's happening in America today. It's happened a hundred times around the world over the past century. We know the signs, and we know where the road leads. The only ones not afraid of it are the ignorant, and those who actually want it.

I recently watched a documentary series on Hulu called "Hitler: The Lost Tapes of the Third Reich" that came out this year, 2023.
 
A couple excerts from this series:
 
"I think it's hard for us to imagine someone being on trial for treason, and just less than a decade later, being made Chancellor of the country."
 
Quote of an on-camera historical expert speaking about the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany by President Von Hindenburg in 1932.
 
 
"We must make Germany Great again!"
 
 
Common used slogan words of Adolf Hitler as he was rising to power during his speeches of the mid-1920s.
 
 
i say, "No, it's not hard to imagine this Chancellor appointment today. 
 
And doesn't that slogan sound verrrry similar to someone we hear about today who's running for U.S. President again?"

Hitler was thought of as a clown by many German Nazi Party opponents until 1934, and the "Night of Long Knives" occurs. And by much of the rest of the world until 1936, when he tears up the Versailles Treaty and re-militarizes the Rhineland.
 
 
This is a phenomenon that historians call "The Underestimation Syndrome"
 
My point being:
 
Adolf Hitler did not make all those political moves on his own back in the 1920's and 30's. Nor of course the military maneuvers.
 
 
November 8-9 is the 100th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2023/08/27/arleen-sorkin-dead-harley-quinn-soap-actress/70694814007/
 
RIP Ms. Sorkin

That introductory adventure I ran was Battlegrounds. It got a very long delay (over 2 years) and we didn't get to the final part until 2021. We finished the Battlegrounds adventure around April of 2021.
 
I also never knew that DOJ was Darren's campaign name until I just researched it. Today.
 
I just never paid attention to much about the publishing and ownership history of Hero Games and Champions until the past year to the 
past few months.
 
I certainly had no idea the name I picked for our team back in '91 was the same as Mr. Watts campaign.
 
 

SPOOON!!!!
 

<This is the Cap Atom imma talkin bout

Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a-Jupiter and Mars

In other words: hold my hand
In other words: baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words: please, be true
In other words: I love you

Fill my heart with song
Let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words: please, be true
In other words, in other words: I love you

Oh, I'm being followed by a moonshadow,
Moonshadow, moonshadow
Leapin and hopping on a moonshadow,
Moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my hands,
lose my plough, lose my land,
Oh if I ever lose my hands,
Oh if... I won't have to work no more.
 
And if I ever lose my eyes,
if my colours all run dry,
Yes if I ever lose my eyes,
Oh if... I won't have to cry no more.

Yes  I'm being followed by a moonshadow,
Moonshadow, moonshadow
Leapin and hopping on a moonshadow,
Moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my legs,
I won't moan, and I won't beg,
Yes if I ever lose my legs,
Oh if... I won't have to walk no more.
 
And if I ever lose my mouth,
all my teeth, north and south,
Yes if I ever lose my mouth,
Oh if... I won't have to talk...

Did it take long to find me ?
I asked the faithful light.
Did it take long to find me ?
And are you gonna stay the night ?
 
Oh, I'm being followed by a moonshadow,
Moonshadow, moonshadow
Leapin and hopping on a moonshadow,
Moonshadow, moonshadow

I agree Christopher R T.
 
I also will put forth the alleged "Mob ties" to DC being more worried about $ and less about the psychological/emotional health of the readers during that time in history (the 60's and Cold War).
 
 
And I don't care what anyone says in review of Guardians Vol. 3
 
I was like, "Man, what are they doing to these characters?! This Sucks! James Gunn and gang must be scuttling the ship because this is terrible! They must be sick of this type of movie work and giving bad performances intentionally."
 
Then at about the halfway point of the movie everyone showed up.
 
I cried twice during G o t G Vol. 3 It was CG characters that brought the tears out.
 
That tells the tale to me. Huh, Bambi.
 
I am confident that either James- Gunn or Mangold- can do good work on behalf of THE GREEN.
 
Go, Swamp Thing, Go!!

https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1081&context=senior_theses
 
 👆If you are interested.
 
"Much of the popularity of Marvel Comics stemmed from the company’s focus on the characters rather than only action like other superhero comics at the time. Lee developed characters that the audience could relate to rather than godlike super humans of DC Comics.
 
The other aspect of Marvel that attracted many readers was the real-world setting, specifically the Cold War setting. The characters of Marvel comics dealt with the issues of this unsettled time period just like their readers. Of course, one of the biggest issues of the Cold War was nuclear power. The beginning of Marvel Comics coincided with a particularly turbulent time in US-Soviet relations as both countries raced to build up their nuclear stockpiles. This all came to a head in October of 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Most historians agree that this thirteen-day period was the closest that the US and the Soviet Union ever came to a nuclear war. It is no surprise that the peak of American nuclear anxiety was also during this unstable period.
 
This analysis focuses on the period from November 1961 to April 1963 in order to determine the extent to which this nuclear anxiety is reflected in Marvel Comics. The nature of nuclear anxiety among Americans during this period was a multi-faceted issue that varied throughout the Cold War…
 
…. The explorers and their fate captured the imaginations of both the young and old throughout the United States over the next weeks, months, and even years. These four Americans were obviously not astronauts but comic book characters, known collectively as The Fantastic Four, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four #1).
 
These four heroes would go on to fight numerous foes from alien invaders to communist dictators, closely followed each month by their enthusiastic readers. The fantastic narrative of humans transformed by cosmic rays into superheroes has engrossed fans for generations. The backdrop of the Space Race provided context to the tale which made the Fantastic Four and their story all the more absorbing.
 
This was only the start for Stan Lee, whose Marvel Comics would go on to produce a whole generation of characters constructed in the context of Cold War America. The beginning of Marvel Comics, in November of 1961, coincided with a particularly unsettled period in United States history.
 
Only a few weeks prior to the release of the first issue of the Fantastic Four, the Soviet Union detonated Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear device ever recorded in history."
 
 
 
 
 
 
And 

Remember how Steve Rodgers, Bucky and Falcon picked a blue VW Beetle as a "low profile" car to move around in during Civil War?
 
That may have been a Disney/MCU warning to DCU about making a full length Blue Beetle movie.
 
"BB is just too low profile to do that folks. Bad idea."
 
But as a side note to DCU:
 
What i would really like to see done in the DCU is a reboot of Swamp Thing- Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.
 
Have Tim Burton direct/produce this reboot and go all out.
 
Which means of course that Keanu Reeves can reprise his role as John Constantine in the project. 

Remember how Steve Rodgers, Bucky and Falcon picked a blue VW Beetle as a "low profile" car to move around in during Civil War?
 
That may have been a Disney/MCU warning to DCU about making a full length Blue Beetle movie.
 
"BB is just too low profile to do that folks. Bad idea."
 
But as a side note to DCU:
 
What i would really like to see done in the DCU is a reboot of Swamp Thing- Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.
 
Have Tim Burton direct/produce this reboot and go all out.
 
Which means of course that Keanu Reeves can reprise his role as John Constantine in the project. 

Remember how Steve Rodgers, Bucky and Falcon picked a blue VW Beetle as a "low profile" car to move around in during Civil War?
 
That may have been a Disney/MCU warning to DCU about making a full length Blue Beetle movie.
 
"BB is just too low profile to do that folks. Bad idea."
 
But as a side note to DCU:
 
What i would really like to see done in the DCU is a reboot of Swamp Thing- Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.
 
Have Tim Burton direct/produce this reboot and go all out.
 
Which means of course that Keanu Reeves can reprise his role as John Constantine in the project. 

As I look over this topic and the points made recently in this discussion, I feel like this is almost a “political discussion” issue.
 
Also, the individuals who have posted here are competent thinkers if I may say so.
 
 
That being said I will put some goblets on the table for all to wine taste or at least sniff:
 
The “founding fathers” of DC, Disney and Marvel were all US Army service men before they started their careers as media moguls. Jack Warner was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by France in 1918.
Walter Disney released Snow White in 1937. Bambi was 1942.
 
Action Comics had Superman appear in 1938.
 
Batman followed in 1939 within DC, respectively.
 
Superman got his first successful broadcast on the radio starting in 1940, running to 1951. Batman likewise enjoyed his first radio days starting in 1942, running to 1951. Then we had Televisions coming into our homes during the early 1950’s, and Superman had first dibs. Batman got up next in the 60’s.
 
Keep in mind that Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications in 1934. The Major outranked the other players.
 
Action & Detective Comics are offspring of National Allied.
 
Isn’t it sad that Stan Lee died only a few months before the release of Avengers Endgame?
 
But yes, the multibillion-$ bell curve of the MCU up to that point. And then COVID-19 the year after Endgame was released (the shutdown was actually in 2020 as we all know).
 
It’s like Endgame was a bomb going off dropped by Disney. Or maybe Endgame was a way to warn the population about the coming of a “Crisis on Infinite Earth”.
 
Why did Thanos have to remove half the population of the Universe? Or was it just half of Earth’s Universe? The specific reasons why Thanos had to make half the universe cease to exist was not fully explained. Or was it not?
 
These matters in mind, do we really need to see essentially the same story rehashed by Darkseid and the DCU?
 
 
Many things terrestrial and human are assigned 100-year cycles. All these companies, heroes and stories- mythos- are quickly approaching a century.
 
 
Perhaps the lifespan of these media propaganda workhorses are reaching their last curtain calls.

I didn’t tell you the conclusion of Demons Rule in Shamaness’s campaign. Like I said, I’ve run the Demons Rule adventure 3 times now:
 
The first time my PCs (5 heroes- 4 live people, I let one person run two PCs) lost to the chaos demons and our campaign fell apart, coming to a halt afterwards.
 
The 2nd time I ran it with a PC team it went more positively (5 heroes, all real people running the 5 PCs). This team beat the chaos demons and the campaign went on much further after that victory.
 
 
This go around in the “final battle” of Demons Rule, as Morgalis (Wizard) has quite a bit of stun yet to be knocked off in the battle (over +30) yet 3 of his 6 henchmen demons are dropped (like Frag, I added Blood Stone of the Crowns of Crim. There’s some meddling from DEMON, the Circle of the Scarlet Moon and Tezcatlipoca going on that I won’t go into explaining) and just about all of his gang helpers were down too.
 
I decided that after some very close battles with Cherokee Shamaness and the 3 Omega Legion members before this battle (Crimson Hawk, Cricket and then Nastarius; Nastarius who flies in with PRIMUS’s 2 agents on a V22 Osprey earlier in the adventure, but the agents were killed at a refueling spot for the V22 at an airport to the North of Serpent Head Island).
 
Morgalis was going to take a reality check and call a retreat.
 
He’s got 3 heroes left standing against him.
 
Shamaness has just dropped below 0 stun, but she’s barely unconscious. She is getting back up soon after a back and forth, tit for tat, 10D6 vs. 11D6 EB, area effect cone, duel with Morgalis that has just taken place.
 
I allowed Morgalis to use his VPP as the seal is being broken, but he has to stay in place for the entire seal destruction. He cannot move.
 
He can attack in just about any form. He has 6 clawed limbs in the picture of him, so with six arms he should have plenty of free arms to make gestures and cast spells while holding the fork.
 
Morgalis can also increase his armor and aid himself; and throw up force walls to protect himself and others. But for magical reasons he may not turn intangible, or aid anyone else's characteristics on the battlefield.
 
BUT HE ABSOLUTELY MAY NOT MOVE OUT OF PLACE UNTIL THE SEAL IS COMPLETELY BROKEN, or the spell will dissipate and stop.
 
Once the fork has been struck upon the altar stone, and the banishment spell has taken 1 turn to be invoked, Morgalis must hold the stone fork the entire duration of the seal’s destruction. While Morgalis holds the stone fork a magical, dimensional vibrational tone is flowing through the stone tuning fork, Morgalis, the altar stone and the stone pillars the duration of the opening of the seal.
 
That’s the mechanics of this ritual as I am playing it.
 
Morgalis has set himself up with -10 to knock back as part of his armor. That’s the only reason he was still standing (really levitating, as he has no legs, he moves with a whirlwind torso) in the same place after the EB area effect duel with Shamaness. Most of the Backstreet Brawlers and Angels who were standing near to him were blown back anywhere from 2 to 8 meters after this duel.
 
6 giant snakes (4 out of 10 snakes summoned had been dropped) and 5 wyverns (Sham started with 6 wyverns) are closing in on Morgalis too. The wyverns have just dropped Bloodstone.
Also, Crimson Hawk is in a back-in-forth, trading-hits battle, with a crazed Torch (Conflar). Enforcer (Alzol) is effectively being overrun and ignored by the giant snakes. The snakes figured out they couldn’t touch him after he dropped 2 of their kin.
 
Runt (Mennigrasz), Psycho (Zoligahr), Blade (Shargaas) and most of the gang kids are down (all below -20 stun, a couple below -40) and out of the battle. Nastarius has grabbed the cube (this won’t stop the spell, only if Morgalis is knocked unconscious or out of place, or the stone fork is removed from his claws, will the spell stop) and Nastarius is about to attack Morgalis. Cricket is closing in on the axe that is now held by a Photon Shackled Hail Mary; so Cricket is coming into position for an attack on Morgalis too.
 
Stick is crouched down close to and trying to defend Morgalis. Stick and Hail Mary and their gang charges are all fixed up with Exocain- Mary’s Wired out on top of the Exocain!
 
All of Stick’s Backstreet Brawlers are down. Only 2 of Hail Mary’s Angels are left standing, but they’ve run for the edge of the Island to hide behind and hold onto bushes because of the winds. Mind you that these young gangstas were all wearing thick kevlar and carrying sub machine guns too.
 
Only the best and most loyal gang fighters made it to the Island of the Serpent Father. These kids are the cream of the crops. The storm winds are raging strong by the start of the 5th turn of battle.
 
All this I describe above and PRIMUS Command (Col. Vasquez) has also received the last transmission of doomed agents Peterson and Kobayashi some hours ago (about 4). It is video that confirms the chaos demons in battle with Shamaness (the demons had escaped PRIMUS’s positive i.d. eye up to this point, is how I played it).
 
Glenn forwarded the video that was sent to him and PRIMUS HQ in New York City, directly to Col. Vasquez himself, just to make sure.
PRIMUS has 3 air troop transport vehicles, and 3 Silver Avengers closing in on Serpent Head Island. The transports are loaded with 30 assault and 10 Iron Guard agents altogether. They’re having trouble with their approach to the island of course.
 
Morgalis can vaguely sense the reinforcements coming.
 
Anyway, just to make it a 3-way split, Morgalis decides to teleport away, and telepathically orders Alzol and Conflar to run away to regroup and try again later.
 
 
Before the heroes and summoned creatures can get their bearings; as the wind and rain and lightning subside, Bloodstone sneaks away too. He flies in the opposite direction from the chaos demons. He is done with the chaos demons.
 
Morgalis was still holding the stone fork when he teleported away. He loses the axe and cube. PRIMUS destroys the two artifacts and arrests Stick, Hail Mary and the other gang members (a few kids had to be administered first aid on the scene). They also destroy the bodies of Psycho, Runt and Blade post-haste.
 
 
 
If you read The Legend of Cherokee Shamaness it all makes sense how Luther Black of DEMON may just want this outcome to be in his interest of harnessing the powers of the Kings of Edom.

Having a rich Hero Games library is fun:
 
Recently I had my Princess Cherokee Shamaness Super Hero PC (refer to 5th edition Club for her background) involved in an old Challenges For Champions scenario. The Red Herring.
 
Shamaness has already run thru Battlegrounds (2008 I presume) and that led into the Widows and Orphans adventure (Hero Plus 1997) which had so many gang connects that I brought in some prime characters from Dark Champions- i.e. Artemis from Underworld Enemies (1993) and Card Shark as depicted in the Dark Champions 4th ed. book.
 
The Red Herring scenario doesn’t have enough power to be a real challenge for Sham as written, so I had a couple of helpers to make it more fun for her.
 
Ankylosaur from Conquerors, Killers and Crooks got in (2002); and Merry Andrew-The Buffoon (Classic Organizations 1991) was also brought in for comic relief as the sandwich truck driver of the scene.
 
At one point Shamaness had summoned 10 giant snakes (see Fantasy Hero Bestiary 4th ed write-up) and 2 "Thunder Rocs" (see Fantasy Hero Bestiary 6th ed, but at about half the size of the write-up, 60 pts worth in 5th ed. Rule terms. The talons & beaks of these Rocs are still formidable at 6d6 & 8d6 HKAs w/STR, reduced penetration, respectively)
 
As all these beasts are pressing the attack, the bad guys are fleeing.
 
Buffoon was in the driver's seat of the get-away truck as Shamaness teleports over and takes a swing at him with her "Lightning Tomahawk" (6 & 1/2 d6 HKA w/ STR respectively)
 
Merry Andrew's head is not fully covered by his suit, his face is exposed- he has used his gadget pool to make his suit into Resistant Armor at a 10 PD/ED with a 14 or less activation roll.
 
So, as Shamaness attacks Buffoon, I kick in the optional hit location rules that are really more a Fantasy Hero mainstay. It's a high shot (see 5th ed Hero System rulebook pg 277) because he's sitting in the driver's seat as Sham swings at him.  Roll 2d6 and add one for the hit location of the hit; Shamaness has successfully hit Buffoon, now where?
 
She rolls a 4 on the dice, that's 4 + 1 = 5. Buffoon's head.
 
I still wanted to give this CLOWN a chance, so I GMed on the fly,
 
"If he gets a 9 or less he still gets the Armor to activate" I the GM roll 11.
 
Sham rolls 21 BODY on her Tomahawk. In the face. Times 2 for thr head is 42 Body damage, Buffoon has 10 BODY.
 
Bye, bye CLOWN boy!
 
An example of Hero Game Systems rules with Fantasy Hero in the mix😉

Having a rich Hero Games library is fun:
 
Recently I had my Princess Cherokee Shamaness Super Hero PC (refer to 5th edition Club for her background) involved in an old Challenges For Champions scenario. The Red Herring.
 
Shamaness has already run thru Battlegrounds (2008 I presume) and that led into the Widows and Orphans adventure (Hero Plus 1997) which had so many gang connects that I brought in some prime characters from Dark Champions- i.e. Artemis from Underworld Enemies (1993) and Card Shark as depicted in the Dark Champions 4th ed. book.
 
The Red Herring scenario doesn’t have enough power to be a real challenge for Sham as written, so I had a couple of helpers to make it more fun for her.
 
Ankylosaur from Conquerors, Killers and Crooks got in (2002); and Merry Andrew-The Buffoon (Classic Organizations 1991) was also brought in for comic relief as the sandwich truck driver of the scene.
 
At one point Shamaness had summoned 10 giant snakes (see Fantasy Hero Bestiary 4th ed write-up) and 2 "Thunder Rocs" (see Fantasy Hero Bestiary 6th ed, but at about half the size of the write-up, 60 pts worth in 5th ed. Rule terms. The talons & beaks of these Rocs are still formidable at 6d6 & 8d6 HKAs w/STR, reduced penetration, respectively)
 
As all these beasts are pressing the attack, the bad guys are fleeing.
 
Buffoon was in the driver's seat of the get-away truck as Shamaness teleports over and takes a swing at him with her "Lightning Tomahawk" (6 & 1/2 d6 HKA w/ STR respectively)
 
Merry Andrew's head is not fully covered by his suit, his face is exposed- he has used his gadget pool to make his suit into Resistant Armor at a 10 PD/ED with a 14 or less activation roll.
 
So, as Shamaness attacks Buffoon, I kick in the optional hit location rules that are really more a Fantasy Hero mainstay. It's a high shot (see 5th ed Hero System rulebook pg 277) because he's sitting in the driver's seat as Sham swings at him.  Roll 2d6 and add one for the hit location of the hit; Shamaness has successfully hit Buffoon, now where?
 
She rolls a 4 on the dice, that's 4 + 1 = 5. Buffoon's head.
 
I still wanted to give this CLOWN a chance, so I GMed on the fly,
 
"If he gets a 9 or less he still gets the Armor to activate" I the GM roll 11.
 
Sham rolls 21 BODY on her Tomahawk. In the face. Times 2 for thr head is 42 Body damage, Buffoon has 10 BODY.
 
Bye, bye CLOWN boy!
 
An example of Hero Game Systems rules with Fantasy Hero in the mix😉

Having a rich Hero Games library is fun:
 
Recently I had my Princess Cherokee Shamaness Super Hero PC (refer to 5th edition Club for her background) involved in an old Challenges For Champions scenario. The Red Herring.
 
Shamaness has already run thru Battlegrounds (2008 I presume) and that led into the Widows and Orphans adventure (Hero Plus 1997) which had so many gang connects that I brought in some prime characters from Dark Champions- i.e. Artemis from Underworld Enemies (1993) and Card Shark as depicted in the Dark Champions 4th ed. book.
 
The Red Herring scenario doesn’t have enough power to be a real challenge for Sham as written, so I had a couple of helpers to make it more fun for her.
 
Ankylosaur from Conquerors, Killers and Crooks got in (2002); and Merry Andrew-The Buffoon (Classic Organizations 1991) was also brought in for comic relief as the sandwich truck driver of the scene.
 
At one point Shamaness had summoned 10 giant snakes (see Fantasy Hero Bestiary 4th ed write-up) and 2 "Thunder Rocs" (see Fantasy Hero Bestiary 6th ed, but at about half the size of the write-up, 60 pts worth in 5th ed. Rule terms. The talons & beaks of these Rocs are still formidable at 6d6 & 8d6 HKAs w/STR, reduced penetration, respectively)
 
As all these beasts are pressing the attack, the bad guys are fleeing.
 
Buffoon was in the driver's seat of the get-away truck as Shamaness teleports over and takes a swing at him with her "Lightning Tomahawk" (6 & 1/2 d6 HKA w/ STR respectively)
 
Merry Andrew's head is not fully covered by his suit, his face is exposed- he has used his gadget pool to make his suit into Resistant Armor at a 10 PD/ED with a 14 or less activation roll.
 
So, as Shamaness attacks Buffoon, I kick in the optional hit location rules that are really more a Fantasy Hero mainstay. It's a high shot (see 5th ed Hero System rulebook pg 277) because he's sitting in the driver's seat as Sham swings at him.  Roll 2d6 and add one for the hit location of the hit; Shamaness has successfully hit Buffoon, now where?
 
She rolls a 4 on the dice, that's 4 + 1 = 5. Buffoon's head.
 
I still wanted to give this CLOWN a chance, so I GMed on the fly,
 
"If he gets a 9 or less he still gets the Armor to activate" I the GM roll 11.
 
Sham rolls 21 BODY on her Tomahawk. In the face. Times 2 for thr head is 42 Body damage, Buffoon has 10 BODY.
 
Bye, bye CLOWN boy!
 
An example of Hero Game Systems rules with Fantasy Hero in the mix😉

I like what you all are saying about Champions and your role-playing experiences. I am not sure if the question is being answered, but I’ll put my input into it anyway: 
 
I was kind of a late bloomer to rpgs I guess, I didn’t play my first sit-down pencil & paper rpg until 19. I had a friend who had collected several different games, i.e. D & D, AD & D, Gamma World, GURPS, Star Trek and Champions. This friend ran me and a couple other friends through all these games back in that year.  
 
Now mind you I liked Star Trek a lot at the time, both the series and the game. 
 
I just didn’t like it when my ensign 1st class science officer character took one hit from a Klingon disruptor and was dead immediately. Just gone man. 
For some reason I zeroed in on Champions as my favorite and I’ve stayed loyal to this cause ever since. 
 
I never took to liking the fantasy realm all that much. I learned to enjoy comic book heroes and villains a lot more. Dealing with the problems we know of in our world and we see on the T.V. and other media; and problems we may have experienced ourselves personally, but with awesome special powers to help us save the day, just appeals to me for some reason. 
After I ran a few campaigns in the supe genre I was hooked on it. I’ve used a lot of legacy stuff from Hero- and yes, it is everything and all the blam, blam and then some in my adventures. 
 
I like bar fights, bank jobs and bar hook ups for my PC’s. Various government and underworld agents can contact my players for employment or other plot devices. Aliens or dream-masters or gods; and multiverse of mayhem.  
 
Years ago, one scenario had the zombies of Morjok (from Challenges for...) swarming just 2 of my 5-player hero team of that campaign while they were at their HQ. After his comrade had fallen unconscious- deep, under negative 20 stun- and the player knew that the horde was going to overtake him too, he fell back to the armory and grabbed a handful of concussion grenades. As 20 or more of the zombies surrounded him and a hundred more were behind those, he pulled the pins on the grenades and roared, “Goodnight stinky dead!” We all howled at his honorable demise.  
 
And actually, he knew his defenses would survive the blast. The zombies were after an item in the base, and he was out of stun and options to stop em. He might as well blow 15 or 20 more of them to bits as he went night, sweet knight. 
 
Your Hero Game is what you wanna make her, him or it. 

My life is brilliant
 
What, was I too early? Oh, sorry
Should I
Do you wanna start over? Or, keep going?
Okay, now? Now?
 
My life is brilliant
Your life's a joke
You're just pathetic
You're always broke
 
Your homemade Star Trek uniform
Really ain't impressin' me
You're sufferin' from delusions of
Adequacy
 
You're Pitiful
You're Pitiful
You're Pitiful
It's true
 
Never had a date
That ya couldn't inflate
And ya smell repulsive too
What a bummer bein' you
 
Well ya just can't dance
And forget romance
Everybody you know still calls ya
Farty Pants
 
But you'll always have 
A job well I mean
As long as you still can work
That Slurpee machine
 
You're Pitiful
You're Pitiful
You're Pitiful
It's true
 
You're half undressed
Eatin' chips of your chest
While you're playin' Halo 2
No one's classier than you
 
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
Loser
 
You're Pitiful
You're Pitiful
You're Pitiful
It's true
 
Your dog would much rather
Play fetch by itself
You still live with your Mom and you're 42
Guess you'll never grow a clue
Well, it just sucks to be you

This is the 5th ed. Cherokee Shamaness:
 
Val           Cost
20  STR      10       8d6  HTH dam, Lift 400 kg
26  DEX      48       
25  CON     30        OCV/DCV: 9 ECV: 8      
15  BODY   10        
15  INT         5        Phases: 2,4,6,7,9,11,12
25  EGO     30        
25  PRE      15       PER roll 12-
20  COM       5       EGO roll 14-
15r  PD         11
15r  ED        10     
 7    SPD      34
15  REC      12
70  END      10
48  STUN    10
 
CHARACTERISTICS TOTAL= 240
 
Skills/Talents
3 Acting 14-, 3 Acrobatics 14-, 3 Analyze Magic 12-, 
22 Animal Handling: amphibians, arthropods, bats, bears, birds, bovids, bovines, camels, canines, dragons, equines, felines, insects, magical/mythical creatures (5pts worth), raptors, reptiles, rodents 14-
 
3 Breakfall 14-, 3 Bribery 14- 
3 Combat Driving 14-, 3 Combat Piloting 14-
3 Computer Programming 14-
3 Concealment 14-,
3 Conversation 14-
3 Cramming: complimentary for computer/cyber powers only (-¼) 12-
3 Disguise 12-,
3 Electronics 12-, 3 Forgery 12-, 3 Gambling 12-, 3 High Society 14-
 
45 Languages: Tsalagi (Cherokee) is native & idiomatic; Fluent conversation with: Algonquian (Objibwe), American Sign, Athabaskan (Apache), Cantonese (Chinese), Castilian (Spanish), Chahta Anumpa (Choctah), Devanāgarī (Modern Hindi), Dine' Bizaad (Navajo), English, Egyptian (ancient & modern), Farsi (Persian), Francaise (French), German (Deutsch & North), Gaelic, Greek (ancient & modern), Guk-eo (Korean), Hebrew (Israeli Standard), Indonesia Malay, Inuktitut (Arctic Indigenous), Iroquoian (Seneca), Italiano, Japanese, Kanyen'kéha (Mohawk), Mandarin (Chinese), Mayan, Meriquia, Moldavan (Romanian), Mongolic, Nahuatl (Aztec), Niimi'ipuutímt (Nez Perce'), Pama–Nyungan (Australian Aboriginal), Runa Sima (Quechua), Russkiy Yaz'ik (Russian), Samoan (Polynesian), Semitic (Arabic), Siouan (Lakota), Swahili, Tagalog, Tsėhésenėstsestȯtse (Cheyenne), Uto-Aztecan (Commanche), Yiddish (Eastern & Western)
3 Linguist (skill enhancer)
3 Lockpicking 14-
3 Magic Skill (based on EGO) 14- 
 
Martial Arts      OCV   DCV   Effect/Damage
4 Block.              +2      +2     abort
4 Disarm             -1      +1     50 STR to disarm
4 Dodge             —      +5     abort
4 Escape           +0      +0      55 STR vs grabs
5 Off Stk             -2      +1      12d6 strike
9 +3 skill lvls w/ MA, 16 +4 DC w/ MA
 
3 Mechanics 12-, 3 Mimicry 12-, 3 Oratory 14- 3 Paramedics 12-, 3 Persuasion 14-
3 Riding 14-, 3 Security Systems 12-
3 Seduction 14-, 3 Shadowing 12-
3 Sleight of hand 14-, 3 Stealth 14-
3 Streetwise 14-, 15 Survival: arctic, forest, desert, jungle, lake and sea 12-
3 Systems Operations 12- 3 Tactics 12-
3 Tracking 12-, 3 Trading 14-,
5 Transport Fam: wagons/carriages, light vehicles, light aircraft, light water craft
10 Weapon Fam: com melee, uncom melee, com mar arts, com missle, small arms
6 Weaponsmith: muscle-powered HTH, muscle-powered ranged & firearms 14-
 
2 KS Agriculture 11-
3 KS Animal Spirits & Totems 14-
2 KS Arctic fauna & flora 11-
3 KS Carnival/Amusement park operations 12-
2 Coastal fauna & flora 11-
2 KS Desert fauna & flora 11-
2 KS Healing Herbs 11-
2 KS Magic/Shamanism 11-
3 KS Native American lore & legends 12-
2 KS Plains fauna & flora 11-
2 KS Prostitution & trafficking 11- 
2 KS Ranching 11-
2 KS Spirits/Religions 11-
3 PS Small Business Housekeeping/Janitorial services 14-
3 PS Escort 14-
20 +2 overall skill lvls
 
TALENTS/ PERQS
9 Ambidexterity: no off hand penalty
37 Danger Sense: as sense, out of combat, any danger in general area; 12- INT or 14- EGO
4 Eidetic Memory: complimentary for computer/cyber skills and powers only (-¼)
3 Lightning calculator: complimentary for computer/cyber skills and powers only (-¼)
5 Lightning reflexes: +4 DEX to go first (30 DEX)
3 Light sleep: + 6 PER roll to wake up for hearing sense group
23 Contacts (15 pts worth) with several individuals & groups, variable w/ adventures (+½)

 
POWERS
10 Analyze/Tracking: smell sense 12-
6  Animal heightened senses +2 PER roll with all senses
5  Active Sonar: detects limited class of objects
3 Ultrasonic hearing perception
90 Damage Reduction 50% PD/ED/Mental
60 Detect Animals: smell and hearing group (analyze, discriminatory, large class of animals, ranged, 360-degree arc of perception) 12-
6 Extra-Dimensional Movement: primarily to summon Shamaness from Spirit World dimension to Earth dimension; may occur from Spirit World to any dimension at any location & at any time when conditions are met, Independent "The Legend of Cherokee Shamaness" prayer & curse, requires sacrifices of slain people or animals (-2) extra time 1 moon or month to activate after prayer spoken (-5) Incantations prayer (-¼) gradual effect 1 week before Shamaness may be totally in her own body, must share body with a host, after 1 week host will perish (-2) no conscious control (-2)

21 Life Support: Does not age, reduced eating & sleeping to once per week, reduced rate of 1 END per 5 min when holding breath, safe in intense heat & cold environments, immune to phytotoxins & zootoxins (not alcohol or related fermentation)
7 Healing: 2d6 Body Spirit Healing, concentrate ½ DCV (-¼) extra time 1 turn (-1¼) Gestures (-¼) Incantations prayer (-¼)
20 Luck 4d6
15 Mental Defense 
15 Power Defense
15 Resistant Defenses PD & ED
 
63 Multipower: Magical Mentalist for Animal, Human & Cyber Minds
 
6u Animal Command: 10d6 Mind Control w/ telepathic communication (+¼) animals only (-¼) 6 END
6u Animal Communication: 12d6 Telepathy, animals only (-¼) 6 END
5u Cyber illusions: Mental illusions 10d6, machine class of minds, not to cause harm (-¼) 5 END
5u Find Minds: 10d6 Mind Scan for animal minds primarily, may find familiar human and cyber minds- friends & loved ones- Uncontrolled for human or cyber minds (-1) 5 END
5u Linked Minds: Mind Link with up to 20 animals and/or summoned creatures any distance or dimension, may achieve mind link with familiar human and cyber minds- friends & loved ones- Uncontrolled for human & cyber minds (-1) 5 END
6u Mental Control: Mind Control 12d6, human & cyber minds 6 END
6u Mental File Erasure/Re-write: 1d6 Major Transform for computer & video files/tapes, works on analog/digital files, BOECV (+1) Ranged (+½) Continuous (+1) Cumulative w/ 2x max points (+¾) Extra time to activate 1 min (-1½) 4 Charges per day (-½), Concentrate ½ DCV (-¼) Requires Magic skill roll to activate (-¼) 3x Endurance cost (-1) 18 END
6u Mind Visions: Mental illusions 12d6, human minds 6 END
6u Vamp of Will: 3d6 EGO Transfer from target to Shamaness, Ranged (+½) Requires EGO skill vs skill roll to activate (-½) 6 END
10 +2 lvls w/ Multipower
 
90  Creature Minions: Summon up to sixteen 350pt animals or magical/mythical creatures or beings- no humans or cybers (+3/4) Devoted to Shamaness (+1) Act. roll 14- (-½)  Concentrate ½ DCV (-¼) ) Full phase (-½) 2x END cost (-½) 49 END
110 Grande Creature Minions: Summon up to four 700pt animals or magical/mythical creatures or beings- no humans or cybers (+¾) Devoted to Shamaness (+1) Act. roll 14- (-½) Concentrate 0 DCV (-½) Full phase (-½) Gestures (-¼) Incantations (-¼) 4 charges or use of this summon every 2 days (-¼) 2x END cost (-½) 83 END
 
CHARACTERISTICS TOTAL Cost= 240
SKILLS/TALENTS/POWERS Cost = 980
 
TOTAL COST= 1,220
 
COMPLICATIONS:
15  Amnesia- a Psych. Limitation: Player fails to remember her past, or past events of the campaign on a regular basis. Player also doesn't remember past lives or adventures and NPC's met before this campaign. Also, timeline of events and scenario locations of the present, and names of NPC's of the present may become blurred, as will remembering to keep known skills and  powers available for use (requires a successful INT roll for skill or power operation on a lvl one Unluck roll or greater in the scenario) Common Situation, serious implications
5 Casual Killer: for Shamaness and many of her summoned animals & creatures, moderate, can cause major problems
10 DNPC: Crimson Hawk; less powerful, frequently appears 11-
10 DNPC: Cricket; less powerful, freq 11-
10 DNPC: Moon Ok-hwa (Jade Phoenix); less powerful, freq 11-
5 Enraged: when intentions of her "goodness" or motives are questioned by authority; uncom, 11-, 11-
10 Enraged: when friends or loved ones are threatened or hurt- this includes most animals, but especially those animals devoted to Shamaness, com, 11-, 11-
10 Hunted by The Bogeyman: as powerful, 11- extensive non-combat influence, to torment and destroy Shamaness for several defeats from this dimensional defender "Cherokee Shamaness"
5 Hunted by Crossbow: as powerful (when well equipped and he has all of his animals) 11- in certain geological area- for now, he'll get out soon- wants to turn Shamaness into a stuffed and mounted trophy piece for beating him and putting him into prison
10 Hunted by Demoiselle Noctoturne: as powerful, 11- extensive nci, Shamaness has defeated her once & is a worthy opponent to destroy
0 Hunted by Icicle: less powerful, 8- in certain geographical area, wants to imprison or kill for putting her into prison
5 Hunted by Krazy Killer Klowns: as powerful (as a group when well equipped) in certain geographical area, 8- wants to imprison or kill Shamaness for putting them into prison
15 Hunted by Manitou & Totem Equalizers: as powerful, 11- extensive nci, wants to enslave or kill Shamaness for thwarting their alliance with Tezcatlipoca and their plans of destroying the "invaders"
0 Hunted by Mind Slayer: less powerful, in certain geographical area, 8- wants to imprison or kill for putting her into prison
10 Hunted by Martika Dusquene: less powerful, 8- extensive nci, wants to enslave, imprison or kill Shamaness for getting her daughter Witchcraft killed
5 Hunted by Prima Donna, less powerful, 8- in certain geographical area, 8- wants to imprison or kill Shamaness for saving Fantasy
5 Hunted by Roger Dusquenne: less powerful, 8- extensive nci, wants to ruin, imprison or recruit Shamaness into The Circle of Scarlet Moon
5 Hunted by Talisman: less powerful, 8- wants to imprison or kill for getting her sister killed
15 Hunted by Tezcatlipoca: more powerful, 8- wants to kill or make Shamaness his consort to enslave the world under his empire, also wants to punish Shamaness for the defeat she handed him and his followers
15 Psychological predisposition: Naive, easily trusts and follows the guidance and directions of people of authority who seem to have good intentions. Seldom questions con games until too late when person(s) pretend to be good. Situation is frequent, and can have serious consequences for the welfare and destiny of the player.
10 Overconfident: Common, Moderately affects
10 Reputation: Powerful magic user who has the ability to summon a small army of deadly animals and creatures, and also can bend the minds of animals, humans and machines, freq 11-
10 Social Lim: Public i.d. freq 11-, major inconveniences and difficulties
10 Susceptibility to alcohol: 3d6 STUN & 1d6 INT Drain instantly per 2 oz. of alcohol (10% by vol. is beginning ratio) when alcohol consumed, not recoverable for 1 day after drink is consumed.
10 Unluck: 2d6
10 Vulnerability to Sonics: 1 1/2x STUN & BODY
20 Vulnerability to Radiation: 2x STUN & BODY
5 Watched by Archmage of Earth's Dimension: more powerful,  8- has extensive non-combat influences, wants to make sure prophecies for Shamaness are fulfilled, cautious that Shamaness may have to be destroyed to save Earth dimension
5 Watched by Cardshark: more powerful, 11- extensive nci, manipulating Shamaness to work for Cardshark endeavors, but will kill or imprison her if interests are threatened
10 Watched by DEMON and Inner Circle members Coin Collector and DaLang, also Luther Black: more powerful, 8- extensive nci, wants to manipulate Shamaness to help summon Kings of Edom and harness the Elder Gods' powers
5 Watched by Dr. Yin Wu: more powerful, 8- wants to manipulate Shamaness to help institute Ancient China Dynasty Dominance of the world 
5 Watched by IHA: more powerful, 8- extensive nci, waiting to see if Shamaness can be manipulated to kill or imprison other dangerous paranormals but may imprison or kill her in the future
5 Watched by the Infinite Man: more powerful,  8- He is fascinated by Shamaness and wants to understand how her "Purity of Heart" stance functions; will it prevail against the darkness? He may at times help the darkness become more intensified
0 Watched by Interface: less powerful, 8- Shamaness has already helped Interface to assassinate heros, what more can she be manipulated to do? 
0 Watched by New Knights of the Round Table: more powerful, 8- interested in prophecies involving Shamaness (primarily Albion)
0 Watched by NILE: as  powerful, 8- Shamaness has already interfered with part of NILE's operations, if she becomes a threat…
15 Watched by PRIMUS & Col. Vasquez: more powerful, 11- ext nci, Shamaness has accepted operative status and then has gone rogue or at least shown criminal behavior, if needs must imprisonment or termination is possible 
0 Watched by Spider Grandmother: more powerful, 11- extensive nci, Shamaness has been called forth to protect the Heart of Spider Grandmother and Meriquai and all of Earth Mother from the encroaching roots of the Dark Tree of Death
 5 Watched by Trismegistus Council: more powerful, 8- extensive nci, many questions to be answered about Shamaness
10 Watched by UNTIL: more powerful, 8- extensive nci, questionable whether Shamaness is an asset or a threat at this time
 Hunted/Watched by VIPER & The Council of  Thirty: ?
 Watched by Archimandrite Lanzol Callixtus: ?
 Watched by Ma Lin Mao: ?
 Watched by Widow: ?
 Watched by Zues and other Olympians: ??
 
 
COMPLICATIONS TOTAL= 310
250 Base pts 250 pts from compli/disads
700 pts Shamaness Exp bonus
 
Crystal Dawn was born to Rosa Dawn Blackthorn near Atwood, Oklahoma. The birth would have taken place at a hospital, but since Rosa had been drinking Salty Dogs all that afternoon, the hospital would not give her painkillers to relieve the contraction pains that were coming. Rosa left with a grimace on her face and went to the farm of a retired veterinarian she knew of nearby. The 'animal doctor' would give her something for the pain.
 
So, Crystal Dawn Blackthorn was born near 3AM in a barn. The birth was hard on Rosa, she lost a lot of fluids. But at least she got the baby out of her body with less pain than the hospital was willing to relieve her. After that Rosa was back on the road.
Crystal Dawn grew up with no stable place to stay for most of her childhood. Her mother Rosa Dawn always had another town to be in, and more gentlemen friends to entertain all the time. Crystal found the animal friends she made showed her more love than her mom or any of her mom's friends. Occasionally, Rosa would take Crystal to visit Crystal's grandparents on their ranch. The ranch animals were kind and cared for Crystal also.
 
By age seven, Crystal Dawn found that anytime she really needed a friend, if she called on an animal friend they would be there for her. Animals seemed to understand Crystal so much better than people. At age nine, Crystal Dawn's grandmother began calling young Crystal "Butterfly", because of the way she fluttered around so joyfully on the ranch at play. She was quite a tomboy and able ranch hand too.
 
By age ten Crystal began running away from her mom. Finally, at thirteen she found a home in the traveling carnival. There Crystal learned the way carnies work and live, and she was allowed to help in the feeding, training and shows of the carnival animals. Crystal became skilled at fixing most of the rides, and was gifted at troubleshooting the electronics of the control mechanisms and security systems when they malfunctioned too. 
Fate came about one day as Crystal was fixing a roller coaster frozen on the tracks over 150 feet in the air. The coaster brakes disengaged suddenly, and Crystal Dawn "Butterfly" plunged to her death. She was 19 years old.
 
Long ago Dog was told by Wakan Tanka to take a bucket of stars, and place the stars here and there carefully. Dog grew bored after a time with his job, and threw the stars here and there hurriedly and haphazardly to get the job over and done. Thankfully, Spider Grandmother webbed the stars back into order for the cosmos to be as we see.
 
Sometime after that Cherokee, a sister tribe to Meriquai, lived far to the North and East. Cherokee ways were peaceful and plentiful, until some others came into the land and brought war. When a village came under attack, and nearly all in the village were laying dead after the slaughter and burning, one dying woman prayed to save her people. She cried out to the animal spirits for help, for by this time, the animals were the only ones left alive near her.
 
Cherokee Shamaness came forth.
 
Cherokee Shamaness came first to defend her people, and hers alone. Over the thousands of years since she first came out of the ashes of that smoking village, she has returned again and again many times, and in many places. Cherokee Shamaness now defends ALL who have the Truth and Love of the Purity of Heart. This is worth defending. 
 
Recently, Spider Grandmother has called Cherokee Shamaness to Meriquai Falls to help defend Meriquai and Earthmother from the coming of many dark things.
Shamaness has been to many places on Earth down through the Millennia. Shamaness has spoken to many people, and learned their languages. She has fought in many battles through time, and Cherokee Shamaness has traveled to many realms. Each time she comes well armed and skilled for the battles she must fight in the realms she travels.
Unfortunately, every time the Shamaness returns, there must be great sacrifices made to bring her from the Spirit World to the physical world. 
 
This time is no exception to the times that Cherokee Shamness has come before.
 
GM's note: Cherokee Shamaness summons just about any animal that walks the earth, plus many magical creatures from the Beastiary 4th and 6th editions. Her creatures can also come from the Asian Beastiary Vol. 1 & 2, but she is unfamiliar with who she has as allies during this campaign due to her amnesia. Once successfully "re-friending" certain animals or creatures from Asia, more helpers can join her roster for summoning.
 

Demons Rule re-revisted:
 
I have used the Demons Rule adventure twice in the past with superhero team PC's that were fairly accomplished.
 
The first run of Demon Rule i GM'd was long ago when the 4th edition was still fresh. A group of five, 300 pt supers had their hands full because one of the players had designed himself a "ghostman" type hero that could possess the bodies of npc's or even other pc's. I decided possessing the body of one or more of the Chaos Demons was too much of an edge for my heros. I modified the Clock Demon taken from "Challenges for Champions" to be what awaited this body thief hero in a pocket dimension when he tried to possess one of the demons. 
 
Recently, I have a lone PC in my  campaign who has made contact and teamed up with another superhero group. This PC was fairly familiar battling gangster npc's taken mainly from Dark Champions supplements before i restarted Demons Rule, after more than 25 years. This PC hero has been going up against sinister gang members before the demons come on the scene. So the youngster aspect (teens and early 20's) of the demon's human gang member followers presented a challenge to this powerful hero who "doesn't want to hurt the kids".
 
I beefed up ALL of the demons- Runt has 3-shot autofire with his strength and the martial maneuvers of grab, crush, throw, sacrifice lunge, etc. Morgalis has a 90 pt cosmic PP and 15pts stand-alone mental def. Psycho has a 4 1/2 d6 AP HKA and MA maneuvers that have lvls, as well as a couple all-HTH combat lvls independently. All the demons were given some onboard mental defenses. Even dumb Runt gets 5pts worth of mental Defense.
 
I find that running every particle of the plot of Demons Rule is rewarding. The role playing that carried over from Dark Champions flavored scenarios that have already set the stage of this campaign- like the Angels of the Demons Rule supplement are painted as "more a social club". But with Hail Mary from Underworld Enemies being the leader of the Angels, and she's even being seduced and brainwashed with not only Wire, but Exocain, and riches and power, through the promise of "young gangs united" by Wizard... Excellent!😀

Doctors quickly realized the gravity of his situation. A concrete treatment plan brought the progression of the disease to a sudden stop. They expect some significant short term health impacts but long term his condition is not expected to drop by more than six additional feet. 

Because politics is a popularity contest, not a rational choice contest.  Because most of your post posistion appeals to a large segment of a certain class of voter, and the guy is first a foremost a showman - give the people what they want.  And the parts of the post that are definitions... well.. again, that fits the mood that his crowd want.
 
I completely get the disbelief and disconnect that prompts your statement.  But.  He's giving his people what they want, the party structure is punishing those who dissent (cf Cheney), certain actors are using the chaos he is creating for their own ends (at least until he turns on some of them, as well - cf his tirades about disloyal people that were bosom buddies up until the tirade)...
 
Everything you are seeing as a bug of his presence, is a feature to others.
 
 
Style over substance, thy name is Trump.  The guy is a living exemplar of the '..fool some people all of the time...' saying.