pawsplay

Swords may not be used by modern soldiers,  but knives certainly are.  Part of every country’s military training is knife work.  From silent kills to “what to do when you’re out of ammo.” how to handle a blade is considered vital.
   Swords just aren’t part of most modern cultures, but if they started becoming seriously used by one, than everybody else would have to take them up again since few hand to hand weapons can match them for deadliness.

This guy

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/09/the-man-who-fought-in-wwii-with-a-sword-and-bow/

Whatever you do, keep it away from Jim Carrey's dog.

Here is the no-frills Character Sheet that I created for my game.  Please feel free to improve and modify, and I hope someone does so . . .
Champions Now Char Sheet_1.xlsx

The Bookworm, or maybe Egghead.

Name the Bat-villain who would use this as a death trap 

Apparently it's contagious. 

I'm coming around to it. There are decisions that are different than I would have made, but made for reasons I understand. In a lot of ways the character creation leads me back to Champions 4 as I first experienced it: while for a lot of people, Champions is rooted in nuts-and-bolts mechanics, what originally drew me in was the concept of "Energy Blast, 5 points per 1d6 of Damage," which was so simple and elegant compared to DC Heroes with its charts or Marvel with its Monstrous Energy Blasts and such. And although CN dispenses with brownie points and fate points and whatnot, it has a lot in common with DC Heroes and Marvel Super Heroes in terms of being a brawly, fast-paced game where heroes can and do hit the dirt from time to time.
Some of the no-shenanigas polices ("no limitations on powers in Multiform") seem overly broad (What if one of my slots would seem cooler with Shutdown?). But that's okay, every edition of Champions has some of those rules, every RPG has some of those rules.
 
As to being a book, it's a good book, to me. But not for all purposes. I feel like there could be a capsule version of CN to introduce it to new players.

Honestly I haven't bought any comics in ten years except DCAU adaptations, and a few indie books like Invincible and Astro City. I've glanced through some recent JL stuff and it's okay. I wouldn't claim to know the current state of the industry, but if there's a lot of good stuff happening in mainstream books out there I don't know what it is.

I'm coming around to it. There are decisions that are different than I would have made, but made for reasons I understand. In a lot of ways the character creation leads me back to Champions 4 as I first experienced it: while for a lot of people, Champions is rooted in nuts-and-bolts mechanics, what originally drew me in was the concept of "Energy Blast, 5 points per 1d6 of Damage," which was so simple and elegant compared to DC Heroes with its charts or Marvel with its Monstrous Energy Blasts and such. And although CN dispenses with brownie points and fate points and whatnot, it has a lot in common with DC Heroes and Marvel Super Heroes in terms of being a brawly, fast-paced game where heroes can and do hit the dirt from time to time.
Some of the no-shenanigas polices ("no limitations on powers in Multiform") seem overly broad (What if one of my slots would seem cooler with Shutdown?). But that's okay, every edition of Champions has some of those rules, every RPG has some of those rules.
 
As to being a book, it's a good book, to me. But not for all purposes. I feel like there could be a capsule version of CN to introduce it to new players.

As reference for Champions Now, it's really worthwhile to buy access to the Marvel Comics online and read the 60s through early 70s of Spider-Man and the FF and whatever else takes your fancy. You can also get anthologies from most libraries. Ron sees the original Champions as inspired by this era and that is indeed what he's trying to capture.

A Joe Friday version, as it were:
 
"Just the facts, ma'am."

I'm coming around to it. There are decisions that are different than I would have made, but made for reasons I understand. In a lot of ways the character creation leads me back to Champions 4 as I first experienced it: while for a lot of people, Champions is rooted in nuts-and-bolts mechanics, what originally drew me in was the concept of "Energy Blast, 5 points per 1d6 of Damage," which was so simple and elegant compared to DC Heroes with its charts or Marvel with its Monstrous Energy Blasts and such. And although CN dispenses with brownie points and fate points and whatnot, it has a lot in common with DC Heroes and Marvel Super Heroes in terms of being a brawly, fast-paced game where heroes can and do hit the dirt from time to time.
Some of the no-shenanigas polices ("no limitations on powers in Multiform") seem overly broad (What if one of my slots would seem cooler with Shutdown?). But that's okay, every edition of Champions has some of those rules, every RPG has some of those rules.
 
As to being a book, it's a good book, to me. But not for all purposes. I feel like there could be a capsule version of CN to introduce it to new players.

Is it bad that I'm haivng fun just doing it with pencil and paper (and a calculator, of course)?

I think you have to decide what a "sneak attack" is in your game. 
 
A) Is a sneak attack a "mystical" ability that only Thieves can do because D&D said so, so many years ago? 
B ) Is a sneak attack a "skill" that anyone can learn?
C) Is sneak attack a maneuver that anyone can attempt?
 
Then it is also important to breakdown what exactly a sneak attack is and does. How does it work in your game? Is it just "magical" bonus damage for attacking someone from behind when they don't expect it? Or is it taking the time to skillfully attack someone to avoid their armor? Is it being skilled at making "called shots" to vital places on their body when they don't expect it? 
 
Depending on the answer to both of those questions will help you decide what type of Sneak Attack build is best for your game. 
 
One build might be a simple "Deadly Blow" 
Another might be a Naked Advantage (Armor Piercing) 
Another might be Skill Levels to hit vital body parts on the hit location chart
Another might be a Haymaker 
Another might be a Naked Advantage (AVAD (regular PD), Does Body) 
Another might be a Martial Arts maneuver for a type of offensive strike or something 
 
There a dozens of ways to build a sneak attack ability in Hero, you just need to decide how it works in your game, and who can attempt it. Once you know those two things, a logical build should follow.
 

There are several other substances unique to the current official Champions Universe mentioned in various source books besides the "uncanny metals," either discovered or created by super-scientists, which assist them in achieving effects beyond what's possible in the real world. A few were added by Cryptic Studios developers to Champions Online for crafting purposes, their descriptions referring to established elements from the setting.
 
Dr. Destroyer invented an "organo-plastic," biosynth, which he uses to create human-looking androids. Biosynth looks and feels like living flesh, and can be crafted to simulate finger prints, retina patterns, even DNA.
 
Radiation from the rare element called radium X can be used as a high-energy power source for various devices. It also has mutagenic properties in certain circumstances; for example, it's a key element of Dr. Phillippe Moreau's process for creating Beast-Men/Manimals. There are a few other mutagens and power-enhancing processes in the lore, a couple of which are particularly notable. Cyberline, used by PRIMUS in the creation of its superhuman Silver Avengers, is believed by the public to be a drug, but is actually a type of gene therapy. It only works on a fraction of the human population, and requires repeated doses to maintain its effects. The Psi Serum, invented by Dr. Sebastian Poe the founder of PSI, amplifies even the smallest amount of genetic potential a person may have for psionic powers, sometimes to significant superhuman levels. It has no effect on people without such potential. PSI guards its formula closely.
 
X-9 is a very efficient but unstable rocket fuel developed by Hua Shoi-Ming of China. Exposure to it made him the super-speedster called the Red Bullet, a member of China's official superhero team, the Tiger Squad. X-9 may possibly be related to X-53, another experimental fuel possessed by a French corporation, which turned mercenary thief Hans Zeldte into the fire-powered Feurmacher, now a member of Eurostar. These fuels are both canon from the tabletop game, although X-9 is also a crafting item in CO.
 
Among the items which have appeared only in Champions Online, fordite is a powerful concentrated explosive, created by Fordham Chemtech. Fordham is also responsible for Regor plastic, a near-impenetrable synthetic fiber. Mechalene is an extremely durable plastic invented by Mechanon. Dragonite is a flexible alloy which can withstand extreme temperatures, of unspecified origin.
 

I read up a little more on Destreum, the super-metal invented by Doctor Destroyer, in  Book Of The Destroyer, the detailed source on all things Zerstoiten. Invented in 1988, it's "a metal with approximately the weight of aluminum but a hardness and durability ten times that of osmium steel. Destreum also reacts positively with force-fields, allowing Destroyer to craft immensely strong powered armors, robotic frames, and vehicle hulls. He's also developed Destreum-fiber (a superplastic strengthened with strands of Destreum) and transparent Destreum (a slightly less tough Detreum-based acrylic that's as clear as glass." (BOTD p. 118)

A Haymaker with a gun could be when the hard-edged hero stairs down the approaching car full of bad guys and puts a bullet straight through the driver.

Okay, so here's the first one. I was looking at my favorite group of IMHO underutilized villains, the Geodesics. And I started with Ultraviolet.* One of the powers that she has is invisibility, but only to ultraviolet vision. How would one go about building that?
 
*Probably a mistake, since she's the most complex character in the group. I should've started with Dart.

I just turned sixty-two. If I haven't outgrown it yet, I believe the next major change in my thinking will be death.
 
And I'm afraid you'll find in this community, my thinking has a lot of company.

I've actually gotten questions along those lines from gamers on the Champions Online forums, although usually for real-world reference, e.g. the melting point of questionite. Some folks might find those details important for a particular scenario they want to run; or because it adds to their sense of verisimilitude in the setting; or because being "lore-accurate" matters to them; or they're just curious. Generally speaking I agree with you, though.
 
 
For my own modified-CU games, I swapped questonite for Darryl Kendrick's kendrium. Changed nearly nothing from the published books, but added that distinctive element we both appreciated.
 
I can't speak to who among the early Hero Games creators came up with the name, "questonite," or how; but I don't know if you ever read the classic Super Agents supplement for Champions and Danger International from the late great Aaron Allston, combining rules for both games (pre-4E). One of the agencies from that book, a private security firm called StarGuard International, was founded by Dr. J.A. Quest, the son of the inventor of questonite -- hence the explanation for the name. Dr. Quest Jr's write-up mentioned that he was a blonde man in his thirties at the time of SA's writing (mid-1980s), but as a boy he traveled the world with his famous scientist father having adventures...

The D&D version is just Drain (Suppress) PD, Only to defeat locks (-1). It is resisted by Arcane Lock but pretty much just works automatically against a mundane lock. 6D6 with plenty of limitations should be both effective and cost-efficient.

Can this unlock a questionate bank vault with a combination lock?

how about skill levels as a power, lock picking at 150 would unlock most locks

I went with sexy thong wearing (female) agents, because I've been itching to try out my new hypno-beam pistol that will induce them to surrender to me and become my adoring, obedient--friends.  Yeah, that's it.  Friends.
 
 
(Whew!  Almost said too much again.  .  .)