Leitz

The DM is letting me help with the (D)NPC creation because I want to understand the process a bit more. Everything goes back to him for review or change. I sometimes run a "Holiday Season" game on another forum, and am considering what to run this year. HERO is an option, but I'm not sure that I understand it well enough yet. The games are always pretty basic; they begin on 1 Dec (sometimes earlier, for chargen) and end on 1 Feb (hard stop), so I plot for what can be done in that timeframe.

Ohh...I love your ideas for the girlfriend! So far she ispretty saintly, with the exception of being a bit forward with the PC. Her explination is that she was afraid to lose him, as he's the only guy who has ever paid attention to her. Even that is a bit limited since the grandad she lives with is a pastor, and none to keen on forward behavior. Of course, he was young once, too. I really like the idea of finding other avenues for self-expression. My thought was that she'd want to go to college, but no idea for what. I'm kind of blah about going to college for art, since most who do so quit creating art. College seems to kill a lot of enthusiasm for creativity. But self-expression is a great idea. The Green Beret is less of a contact, more of an off-screen thing. I do a lot of fiction around the games, often more than gaming itself. In this case, the GB is advising the PC on how to ask the girl's grandad if he can court his grandaughter, and how to plan for having a family. In other news, the game is set in an alternate 1987, so texting and internet is a bit limited.

In the dark pre-history of RPGs, they seem to bloom from the mix of wargames and fiction. In a wargame, you just need to consider "offense, defense, and movement". Pretty much everything else is "shtick"; the color and look of things. With fiction, readers want to identify with the hero of the story. Players pick a hero archetype, for example "misfit", "grizzled old timer", or "prodify", and that may modify their shtick. The real question isn't "What has been done?", but "What do the players want?" The Golden Age comics are great, but they were written to a readership culture that no longer exists. Even dealing with historical events, like WWII, needs to deal with how the player's culture wants to game. The other recommendation I'd make is don't overthink this. I planned one campaign for six months, and some miscommunications led to the campaign's demise. I much prefer to sketch out a basic idea, put in some flavor, and game it a couple of times. If players keep going then I put more into it.

I've done stuff like this in some games; bringing new players into a "create your own character concept" can be tough on both the DM and the players. One thing that might help is to let their characters be point-fluid for a few scenarios. You can either allow point reallocation for a few games, so that they can transform the cookie cuttter to their own mental image, or declare them "new at this", and of slightly less points. Maybe hold back 15 points, and they discover new ways to do stuff so that the points can be spent. The more you can get the players interested in their PCs, the more fun the game will be for everyone.

Hey all, my first post. I could use some help in creating a couple of NPCs connected to my 5th ed teen hero. One NPC is a former Green Beret with a medical discharge for a back injury. He's fit, but can't do normal Green Beret stuff. He's not a DNPC, but I want to have an idea for him as he is often the man my PC turns to for man type advice. The other is a DNPC, the PC's girlfriend. She is 16, like him, and she is mute. I haven't played HERO/Champions for a long time, and could use some ideas so the NPCs aren't run of the mill. Everything will have to be approved by the DM, and I tend to write fiction around my characters. Any ideas for skills, ads, disads? I've got the 5e rulebook, so I can read up on anything you point me to.