matrix3

I am looking at creating an NPC, and he will be dexterous with a little bit of superstrength, some stealthy powers, and martial arts attacks. I was wondering what people thought of a character with powers and martial arts versus a character that just has powers, some of which mimic martial arts attacks? I'm looking more for ease of use, trying to keep track of everything for multiple NPC's simultaneously during combat, rather than point efficiency. Any opinions or pointers?

Re: Damage Shield question There are a couple threads that talk about damage shields that you might find helpful: Complaining about damage shield and Favorite Damage Shields? for example.

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! I've been unable to run my own campaign for some time now, and it looks like this will be the situation for some time to come, so I want to get a vicarious fix through other campaigns...

Re: [Campaign Log..kinda]Small Wonders How's this campaign going? It sounded really interesting...

Ken Sumitani Ken Sumitani is an assassin and enforcer for Sammy Shinoda. Ken and Sammy don't get along very well, as Ken sees Sammy as the dissolute son of a great man, and Sammy thinks Ken needs to get a life. Ken traveled a great deal in his youth, seeking martial arts instruction all around Asia, and as such is a fearsome hand to hand combatant. He spent some years with Chan Ho Nam's master Bak Mei learning White Eyebrow Kung-fu, and as a result the two will not fight. Surpassing his unarmed prowess, however, is his skill with a katana. Ken is a kenjutsu master and when given the option will fight with one of the katanas from his extensive and priceless collection. The pride of his collection is Yoshitsune, an ancient blade he discovered in a Seattle veteran's collection of war memorabilia. The veteran claimed to have found in in the street after WW2 while in Japan during his tour of duty. Ken's research indicates it is over 1000 years old and is a Japanese national treasure that should be returned to Japan, but he just can't make himself part with it. This character sheet was inspired from different sources, and I believe some of it came from a character sheet I saw on Susano's website (http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/). As a result, it might be a bit of a mash, and I apologize, but hopefully it gets everything basically correct. Again, please post any opinions, corrections, or improvements. Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 18 STR 8 13- Lift 303.1 kg; 3 1/2d6 HTH Damage [4] 23 DEX 52 14- OCV: 8/DCV: 8 20 CON 20 13- 13 BODY 6 12- 16 INT 6 12- PER Roll 13- 16 EGO 12 12- ECV: 5 20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6 13 COM 2 12- 7 PD 3 Total: 7 PD (0 rPD) 6 ED 2 Total: 6 ED (0 rED) 4 SPD 7 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 8 REC 0 40 END 0 32 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 124 Movement: Running: 6"/12" Leaping: 3"/6" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills Martial Arts: Kenjutsu Maneuver OCV DCV Damage 5 Cut +1 +3 Weapon Strike 4 Evade -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 4 Lightning Stroke +2 +0 Weapon +2 DC Strike 4 Parry +2 +2 Block, Abort 5 Slash -2 +1 Weapon +4 DC Strike 0 Weapon Element: Blades 18 Katana: HKA 1 1/2d6 (2 1/2d6 w/STR), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2);OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-1/4) plus +1 with OCV; OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-1/4) 4 Blur Of Blades: Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) for up to 35 Active Points of HKA; Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), OIF (sword of opportunity; -1/2), END 1 7 Can Cut Bullets From The Air: Missile Deflection (Bullets & Shrapnel); OAF (Katana; -1) 9 A Blur Of Motion: Running +6" (12" total), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); Only To Make Half Moves In Combat (-1) 3 Sharp Senses: +1 PER with all Sense Groups 10 Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25%(15), must be aware of attack (-1/4) non-persistent (-1/4) Perks 5 Fringe Benefit: Yakuza Enforcer 2 Reputation: Unstoppable (The Yakuza) 14-, +2/+2d6 2 Reputation: Unstoppable (Golden Lotus Gang) 14-, +2/+2d6 1 Money: Well Off Talents 10 Follow-Through Attack 7 Deadly Blow: +1d6 ([with katana]) Skills 12 +4 with Kenjutsu 2 +2 OCV With Slash With Katana 10 Unhittable In Combat: +2 with DCV 10 Defense Maneuver I-IV 3 Breakfall 14- 3 Iajutsu: Fast Draw (Blades) 14- 0 Language: Japanese (idiomatic; literate) 5 Rapid Attack (HTH) 3 Stealth 14- 3 Streetwise 13- 2 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles 1 WF: Blades Disads: 10 Distinctive Features: Style (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Large Group) 10 Hunted: Yakuza 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Watching) 10 Hunted: Seattle PD 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Arrest) 10 Hunted: DARC 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Capture) 20 Psychological Limitation: Loyal To The Yakuza (Very Common, Strong) 20 Psychological Limitation: Yakuza Code Of Honor (Very Common, Strong)

Chan Ho Nam Lee Hong of the Golden Lotus Gang has an enforcer and head bodyguard, Chan Ho Nam, a master martial artist from China. Little hard evidence exists of any extraordinary abilities, but he is feared by all the gangs for his reputed ability to kill with a touch. It should be noted that he and Kenchiro "Ken" Sumitani of the Yakuza trained in China under Bak Mei, grandmaster of White Eyebrow Kung-Fu, for a few years, and won't come into a direct confrontation. It is rumored, however, that the two will occasionally meet in an out of the way abandoned lot to spar. One PC met Chan briefly, but I haven't fully ironed out his character sheet yet. Any input would be helpful. For instance, I know he needs more skills, probably something with biology and history or Buddhism. Val Char Cost Roll Notes 20 STR 10 13- Lift 400.0kg; 4d6; [2] 25 DEX 45 14- OCV 8 DCV 8 20 CON 20 13- 15 BODY 10 12- 13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12- 18 EGO 16 13- ECV: 6 15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6 8 COM -1 11- 6 PD 2 Total: 6/12 PD (0/6 rPD) 4 ED 0 Total: 4/10 ED (0/6 rED) 4 SPD 5 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 8 REC 0 40 END 0 35 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 127 Movement: Running: 10" / 20" Swimming: 4" / 8" Leaping: 6" / 12" Martial Arts: White Eyebrow KungFu Maneuver OCV DCV Notes 4 Martial Block +2 +2 Block, Abort 4 Martial Disarm -1 +1 Disarm; 40 STR to Disarm 4 Martial Dodge -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 4 Martial Escape +0 +0 45 STR vs. Grabs 3 Martial Grab -1 -1 Grab Two Limbs, 40 STR for holding on 4 Martial Strike +0 +2 8d6 Strike 3 Martial Throw +0 +1 6d6 +v/5, Target Falls 4 Nerve Strike -1 +1 3d6 NND (rigid armor over vitals) 5 Offensive Strike -2 +1 10d6 Strike 5 Defensive Block +1 +3 Block, Abort 5 Defensive Strike +1 +3 6d6 Strike 4 Reversal -1 -2 45 STR to Escape; Grab Two Limbs 8 +2 HTH Damage Class(es) Powers 15 Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% (30 Active Points); STUN Only (-1/2) must be aware of attack (-1/4) non persistent (-1/4) 0 7 Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% (15 Active Points); STUN Only (-1/2) must be aware of attack(-1/4) non persistent(-1/4) 0 15 Negative Combat Skill Levels (-3 to opponent's DCV) 1 Perks 3 Reputation: Feared HTH Combatant (A medium-sized group) 11-, +3/+3d6 Talents 12 Combat Luck (6 PD/6 ED) 15 Danger Sense (self only, out of combat, Intuitional) 12- Skills 3 Acrobatics 14- 3 Breakfall 14- 3 Climbing 14- 3 Sleight Of Hand 14- 3 Shadowing 12- 3 Stealth 14- 3 Streetwise 12- 7 Analyze: Style 14- Total Powers & Skill Cost: 155 Total Cost: 282 200+ Disadvantages 10 Psychological Limitation: Keeps his word (Common, Moderate) 15 Hunted: Triads 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching) 20 Hunted: Police 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish) 37 Experience Points Total Disadvantage Points: 282

Alexander Solonik Vladimir Lem, head of the Russian mob in Seattle, has a veritable army at his control to throw at his enemies, but when stealth and surgical precision are required he calls in the Scorpion. Very few know the Scorpion's name or his past, even Vlad doesn't know the whole truth, but many in the underworld fear his ability as an assassin. Primarily a sniper, he will go close for a kill if necessary. The Scorpion's name is Alexander Solonik (based on a real person, see his wiki entry here). A former member of Spetsnaz (Russian Special Forces) known in Russia during the nineties as "Superkiller" for his ability as a sniper, something in Greece in 1997 forced him to fake his own death and disappear, eventually ending up in Seattle. As a member of Russia's Special Forces he is highly skilled in all the arts of combat, but truly excelled at firearms. Possessing excellent vision and a steady hand, he was one of Russia's top snipers, and his ambidexterity allowed him to develop an effective two pistol fighting style for more immediate combat. However, his "edge" comes not just from his training like some members of the Yakuza or Golden Lotus Gang, but rather from his early years amidst terrible pollution. He came down with a mysterious fever at 3 years of age and almost died, but recovered and ever since has been resistant to every disease and poison he has encountered (LS: Terr. Bio Agents and Poisons). He is also hard to keep down (Rec. 10) and able to heal at an incredible rate (Regen: 1 bod/day [no limbs adder, no rez adder]; in addition to the 10/month from his recovery, this means he heals 4 body every 3 days) I didn't create a character sheet for him, as the characters are more likely to interact with the Asian gangs.

NPC's of interest I named the heads of the organizations, but the PCs are more likely to interact with the enforcers or assassins from these groups, so I fleshed these NPCs out more. I will post one from each group.

More immediate threats The Seekers of the Golden Truth and other left over Nazi menaces are a little high level, meant to be challenges down the road. I outlined some criminal organizations in Seattle to be more immediate threats for the characters. There are small, neighborhood gangs, and then there are the big three: the Bratva, the Golden Lotus Gang, and the Yakuza. The Bratva is the Russian Mob, and is led by Vladimir Lem, a short, slight man in his fifties with a full head of dark hair and deepset dark eyes. He is an old hand at crime and both respected and feared by his men. Known for astounding rewards for loyalty, he is equally infamous for brutal retribution against any treason and is sometimes referred to as "The Impaler" by enemy gangs due to his terrifying hands-on interrogation techniques. The Golden Lotus Gang is a loose amalgamation of sub-gangs, with the primary sources for these sub-gangs hailing from mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, and Cambodia. They banded together in the 90's after the being decimated by Russians individually. The gangs operate under the guidance of the Council of Golden Wisdom, aka the Golden Council, with representatives from the major gangs. The smaller gangs have mostly aligned by nationality, though some independent operators exist, generally neighborhood gangs of 10 members or so. Each gang has two representatives on the council, regardless of the gang's size, a General and a Lieutenant. These representatives usually aren't the leaders of the gangs, instead just proxies, and whatever system or heirarchy each gang uses, in council they are called Generals and Lieutenants for consistency. The gang as a whole is led by a Mountain Master, Lee Hong, who has shown wisdom and skill to present a united front to the Russians while allowing a measure of autonomy to the gangs. The Hirota-gumi are the Yakuza presence in Seattle, and are affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi in Japan. Due to affiliations with the largest Yakuza organization in the world, the Hirota-gumi had the ability to resist the Russian invasion in the 90's. It also helped that the Russians concentrated on smuggling and drugs at the time, while the Hirota-gumi classically concentrated on gambling, prostitution, and extortion. The head of the Hirota-gumi is Noboru "Sammy" Shinoda. His father, Kazuo Shinoda, was a cousin to Kenichi Shinoda, current godfather of Yamaguchi-gumi, and dealt with the first Russian incursions. Sammy loves life, and frequently does business at one of the strip clubs or massage parlors that the Yakuza owns.

Nazi Menace A resurgent Nazi menace is going to figure as a big evil motivator in my campaign. They are behind the Seekers of the Golden Truth, and in my campaign world their rise to power before and during WW2 was fueled by the very misery and death they spread (inspired by the novelette "Thor Meets Captain America" by David Brin). And not only did they harness energy from the misery in the concentration camps, they harvested the souls of those that died and rendered them down into a usable energy source. Here is a background blurb I gave Johnny London's player, since as an OCCULUS agent, Johnny would know this side of WW2: =================================== The Nazi's left many new inventions and scientific breakthroughs, most of which they destroyed in a "scorched earth" policy at the end of the war before the Allies could recover and study them. Some of these were more than just technology, they incorporated what can only termed as magic as part of their design. They were researched and produced under the utmost secrecy, and some escaped at the end of the war. General Dr. Hans Kammler was a well educated engineer in Germany when he joined the Nazi party in the early thirties. His superiors recognized his genius at administration and organization, his brutal efficiency, and his complete disregard for the health and well-being of "lesser creatures" and he rose quickly through the ranks. He was soon a General in the SS, tasked with building and administering numerous concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and he designed factories to best leverage and secure the copious amount of slave labor necessary to fuel the war effort. He was also the director for the Rocketry program, and was closely involved in the development of the V-2 rocket. As if this weren't enough, he acted as Himmler's bridge between the mystical and the technical. When he designed the camps and factories, they were engineered to harvest the energy of all that misery and death, and feed that energy through a series of special circuits he designed and called "Kammler Rectifiers" to harness and store it for later use. These circuits rely upon the "Tessman Tube," a vacuum tube that integrated magic and technology. At the end of the war, he was publicly wanted as the architect of the concentration camps and factories, and secretly he was wanted since he was second only to Himmler in the breadth of his knowledge of the Nazi's mystical endeavors. Unfortunately, he disappeared. Some say he was murdered, either by the Nazi's so the Allies couldn't get his knowledge, or by the relatives of his victims. Others say he committed suicide rather than face justice. But a few insist that he and a few others escaped in an experimental, long range cargo jet, and that they took the plans and prototypes for the most advanced devices with them.

Occulus Johnny London's player wrote up this document about the European occult agencies, basically straight from the Bob Howard series. ============================== OCCULUS (Occult Control Coordination Unit Liaison, Unconventional Situations) OCCULUS is the umbrella, administrative organization created after the ratification of EUINTEL, the European Union Intelligence Treaty, specifically the “unexplained phenomena”-related Helsinki Protocols. OCCULUS is designed to provide inter-agency liaison protocols for the EU members, allowing the various intelligence agencies to share information and to provide protocols for agents to operate across the EU without creating an international incident. OCCULUS also maintains a military staff drawn from the special forces of all member agencies and trained in rapid deployment to reality-deficient hot zones. OCCULUS in the US: Most OCCULUS member agencies consider the United States hostile territory, due to the strong influence of the Seekers of the Golden Truth and the weakness of any internal government agency (with the exception of DARC, which views OCCULUS with suspicion). As such, OCCULUS maintains a fairly strong but highly covert presence in the US in an attempt to head off any significant occult threats. Although most EU countries provide support to OCCULUS, the most active members are as follows: The Laundry: The British Special Operations Executive was officially disbanded in 1945; however, SOE Department Q was spun off into a separate intelligence agency. While it has no known official name, it is known as The Laundry since its original headquarters were fronted by Capital Laundry. The Laundry is one of the most active agencies in OCCULUS, and maintains one of the largest organizations in Europe. The Laundry in the Pacific Northwest: The Laundry classifies the US as hostile territory; as such, all Laundry agents in the US must be field-certified operatives. Fortunately, Canada’s strong ties with the Commonwealth have provided the Laundry with secure headquarters close by. Most of the administrative and analytical tasks in North America are handled from their offices in Canada, where the Laundry maintains very strong diplomatic ties with the Canadian Mounted Police, Zed Division (headquartered above the magical vent in Lake Louise). The Laundry is able to draw on both covert special ops Mountie support and limited SAS support in the event of major dimensional incursions in North America. The Laundry’s North America West Coast operations are headquartered in Vancouver, BC, about three hours north of Seattle. The Laundry maintains field cells in San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and Las Vegas. A recent shakeup in the West Coast office (precluded by a nasty interdepartmental fight back home) has left the other OCCULUS members somewhat concerned, but Lydia Random, the new West Coast Director, seems to have everything well in hand. Feheime Sicherheit Abteilung: The German domestic occult intelligence agency is more commonly referred as the Faust Force. Faust Force is mainly concerned with dealing with domestic intelligence and counterintelligence, and has recently included all “unexplained phenomena” under its umbrella. While its occult expertise is perhaps the most limited in OCCULUS, its technological and biotechnological expertise is unmatched. Faust Force in the Pacific Northwest: The existence of the Seekers of the Golden Truth have led Faust Force to maintain a stronger presence in the US than one would expect from a domestic agency. Faust Force is extremely concerned about any mystic artifacts the Seekers may have smuggled out of Germany. Faust Force has focused its efforts on infiltrating militia groups in the Pacific Northwest and in Texas, believing that the Seekers have strong ties to those groups. They draw strongly on the Laundry’s resources in Canada, since they do not have any comparable operational hubs in North America. Their operatives are mostly organized as three-person cell groups under deep cover. Faust Force currently has two groups known to be operating in the Washington area; Karl Nikloveitch (codename Drago) heads a group currently operating in and around Seattle. AIVD: The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Office is a domestic counterespionage agency also tasked with maintaining the infamous artifacts and occult items amassed by Nazi Germany. AIVD’s main focus is securing and decommissioning dangerous artifacts; their vaults are considered the most secure in Europe. AIVD in the Pacific Northwest: While the AIVD does not support field operations in the US, the FSA has asked for AIVD’s technical expertise and support in their ongoing actions against the Seekers of the Golden Truth. A few AIVD operatives, certified in field operations but classified as researchers, have obtained positions in various museums and libraries in the US. They are in place solely as advisors, and are instructed to withdraw in the face of any opposition. DGSE: Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure is the French agency concerned with Black File threats. Besides the Laundry, DGSE is the agency most concerned with patrolling outside their own borders, and they maintain permanent liaison positions with most other OCCULUS member countries. DGSE in the Pacific Northwest: The French are more concerned with maintaining security on the Continent, but they maintain a few operatives in the US simply because everyone else does. Their strongest presence is in Quebec, where their analysts spend most of their time watching what the other agencies do. Due to the recent shakeup in the Laundry, Quebec has asked DGSE headquarters for additional field resources for their US division. Overseas Occult Directive: This new Irish agency is concerned with external; the Irish Ley Line Defense Agency maintains domestic security and boasts perhaps the strongest occult defenses in Europe. The OOD is very active, but does not have the resources of its larger brethren. OOD in the Pacific Northwest: The OOD do not have the personnel to maintain an overly strong presence in the US, leaving North America to the other OCCULUS agencies. However, the OOD has a strong interest in the Fae, and reports of Fae activity in Seattle have led the OOD to authorize a field operative and a covert IDF team to operate in the Seattle area. Canadian Mounted Police, Zed Division: CMP Z Division is not a member of OCCULUS; however, they are OCCULUS’ main ally in North America. CMPZ was organized after an almost-disastrous otherdimensional incursion in the Lake Louise area was stopped only with the aid of OCCULUS operatives. CMPZ was formed from Special Emergency Response Teams (counter-terrorism, SERT) re-tasked to deal with occult menaces. In 1993, SERT was officially spun off to Joint Task Force 2 (Canadian Special Forces), while CMPZ was combined with CMPF (mutant and psionic investigation). CMPZ now deals with all “Black File” cases, and can draw from both specially trained CMP and JTF2 units.

Occult Conspiracies... There are numerous organizations in the U.S. that purport to deal with the occult, but only two hold any true power. The Philosophers of Thoth are a relatively small organization within the Scottish Rite Freemasons, which holds knowledge of true magic. They deal primarily in summoning and dealing with spirits, and in extreme circumstances extra-dimensional entities. They borrow heavily from Hermeticism, though they follow the Egyptian tradition and refer to Hermes Trismegistus as Thoth. There are relatively few members, approximately 2000 in the U.S., but they are dedicated to guarding against incursions. Due to their limited numbers they frequently work toward key government or military positions to watch for any subtle infiltrations, and to monitor any projects that may puncture through the dimensional barriers. The Seekers of the Golden Truth isn't such a philanthropic organization, though it started innocently enough. In the 1840's a well educated French immigrant to the United States, Henri Michel Reutenauer, grew dissatisfied with the Masonic Lodge of which he was a member. He decided to start his own group, and called it The Seekers of the Golden Truth. He dug into the cultures of ancient Mesopotamia and discovered new meaning within certain rituals recently discovered at Egyptian and Sumerian archaeological digs funded by the British Museum and certain British "Adventurer Clubs." After Henri's death in 1911, this group lost focus, consisting primarily of dabblers who didn't truly believe in any power behind the rituals they practiced. This changed after World War II, when there was an influx of mysterious, wealthy Caucasian men from Brazil. Soon these former Nazis (see the Nazi Menace) had taken control and corrupted the organization, turning it to their own purposes and sending out agents to start small seed organizations and new age bookstores, frequently using a variation on the Rosicrucian name. These smaller groups then feed truly talented individuals up into the core organization. The Seekers are now a group of powerful alchemists and hermetic mages whose modus operandi consists of tempting those in power by using magic to provide whatever the target may wish. The Seekers then use this person to gain access to sensitive materials, money, magic, or technology. They have deeply penetrated the U.S. government, but it is unknown just how pervasive the corruption truly is. The government has an official response to occult menaces, called Division 33. Created toward the end of WW2 as the Occult Defense Department (ODD) when the U.S. joined other world powers to deal with the remains of the Nazi experiments into the occult, it changed names to avoid a stigma of being related to the occult. Once a formidable force against any occult menace, it has been crippled in recent decades by the machinations of the Seekers.

Division 23 Division 23 was created during the Manhattan Project, and is the group that deals with unusually advanced technology created by government experiments, recovered from "crash sites" (which may actually be aborted dimensional incursions) or acquired/recovered from the lab of the occasional brilliant eccentric like Nikola Tesla. Some of their tech may actually be a melding of magic and technology, but they will not believe any such assertions. This is particularly true of items that they appropriated from Division 33, which were for the most part recovered from Nazi labs after WW2. They are influenced, but not actually controlled, by the Seekers of the Golden Truth. While Division 23 was created during the Manhattan Project, the core of their work for the past sixty years centers upon certain journals and prototypes acquired after the death of Nikola Tesla on January 4th, 1943. Only 23 crates of documents and prototypes were officially discovered after Tesla's death, but rumors persist that more than forty crates were seized by the FBI in the days after Tesla's passing, including a small metal box taken from the safe of the New Yorker Hotel by men in thick protective gear in the small hours of January 10th. Scientists at Division 23 have spent the last 60 years trying to understand Tesla's theories and how his prototypes work. Every year, they get a little closer to where Tesla was in 1943.

Division 33 Created toward the end of WW2 as the Occult Defense Department (ODD) when the U.S. joined other world powers to deal with the remains of the Nazi experiments into the occult, it changed names to avoid a stigma of being related to the occult. Division 33 was at one point a formidable force, with teams following both domestic and international lines of interest through the early 60's. However, due partially to the distance from Germany, but more to the threat of Soviet expansion, the U.S. gradually de-emphasized these endeavors and by the end of the 70's Division 33 exclusively dealt with domestic investigation. The Seekers of the Golden Truth unsuccessfully tried to infiltrate Division 33 in the 60's and 70's, so, in the 80's, agents of the Seekers switched tactics and tried to kill Division 33 by reorganizing several departments and diverting its entire budget into the Star Wars program. This nearly succeeded, but an influential Philosopher of Thoth managed to subtly divert this reorganization and Division 33 managed to survive with a minimal budget for over a decade by disappearing into a bureaucratic shuffle. It was discovered in 1997 due to an audit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Agents of the Seekers again tried to kill it, but this time a junior senator from Washington, Edgar Wallingford, managed to intervene and maintain a minimum budget. It has been ten years now, and Division 33 has managed to hang on with five field offices (Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA; Baton Rouge, LA; Chicago, IL; and Bangor, ME), the main office in D.C. and 12 actual, trained agents. Fortunately, two of these agents are Philosophers of Thoth, who can call in favors when the chips are down.

Division 37 The Department of Defense has the most involvement in dealing with unusual occurences, with several divisions tasked with various responsibilities. Division 37 of the DoD is the main player in this area, with top secret departments tasked with acquiring Aberrations (as they call any thing with abnormal abilities, particularly if coupled with inhuman features), studying them, and replicating their abilities. They are kept separate from Division 23, which deals with cybernetics and other ultra tech experiments, though there is occasionally sharing of information when an Aberration exhibits technological abilities (cyberpathy, electrokinesis, etc.) or requires unusual measures to ensure satisfactory containment. There are occasional dealings with Division 33, which handles occult menaces, but this division is generally regarded as a joke. Division 37 has few institutional ties, tending to hire scientists that have proven themselves in other highly classified positions within the DoD such as Division 23, but there is a small genetic research program at Dartmouth that feeds information and personnel into Division 37.There are two departments of particular interest: DARC and HOPI. Members of DARC (Department of Aberration Retrieval and Containment) acquire information on any reported display of paranormal individuals, compile dossiers, then capture any target deemed to be a threat or to display potentially useful abilities. They deal in the concrete, playing down any hint of "mystical" in the targets' abilities, and also tend to discount "softer" targets like telepaths, precognitives, or mediums as charlatans. Exceptions include any telepath displaying the ability to interface with or directly control technology, or those exhibiting Mind Control abilities. When DARC has acquired a new wild talent, it is transferred to another, even more secretive department within Division 37 called HOPI (Human Operative Potential Initiative). The directive of this department is to discover how these individuals do what they do -- and replicate it. HOPI is the source of the DoD's few stable super soldiers, as Division 23's cybernetics program has not yet produced a cyborg that reliably exhibits any useful abilities while avoiding crippling mental and/or physical disabilities.

U.S. Government Institutions The U.S government has a few very low key departments dealing with the abnormal, with little overlap. (For organizations around the world, see Global Organizations) For unofficial occult groups in the U.S., see here. The Department of Defense has the most involvement in dealing with unusual occurrences, with several divisions tasked with various responsibilities. Division 37 of the DoD is the main player in this area, with top secret departments tasked with acquiring Aberrations (as they call any thing with abnormal abilities, particularly if coupled with inhuman features), studying them, and replicating their abilities. They are kept separate from Division 23, which deals with cybernetics and other ultra tech experiments, though there is occasionally sharing of information when an Aberration exhibits technological abilities (cyberpathy, electrokinesis, etc.) or requires unusual measures to ensure satisfactory containment. There are occasional dealings with Division 33, which handles occult menaces, but this division is generally regarded as a joke. Two departments of interest are DARC and HOPI, both part of Division 37. Marginally competing with the DoD is the CIA's Project Starline, which concentrates on coordinated remote viewing, a structured approach to clairvoyance, and more rarely remote influence, a form of long range telepathic interference. Unlike Division 37, all participants are nominally volunteers, although a good number are in the program due to issues dealing with "real life" after being overwhelmed by their extra-sensory abilities. Project Starline was started in the late sixties as Project Center Lane and was a joint project with the DoD, although the CIA operatives had no knowledge of Division 37, believing instead they were dealing with a division of Army Intelligence. It was reorganized in the mid seventies as Project Grill Flame with a greater influence on RI, then became Project Starline in 1984 when the DoD severed ties to concentrate on its internal programs. Project Starline has a long history with Stanford and the Stanford Research Institute. The relationship is kept low profile but is technically not classified, though any results are top secret. The FBI is currently suffering from a bout of pragmatism at the highest levels, and as such, there are only two people tasked with investigating abnormal occurrences out of a basement office in Virginia. Finally, the U.S. Marshals Service has some knowledge that there are unusual individuals out there. They don't have a special unit to deal with these individuals, but they do have procedures to funnel "unusual" cases to certain Marshals for appropriate response. They do not procure abnormals for study, they only apprehend escaped federal prisoners that occasionally aren't quite human. It is, however, a moot point since almost all abnormals they apprehend get transferred to United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Dugway (ADX-Dugway) a Federal "supermax" facility southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah which, unbeknownst to the U.S. Marshals Service, is actually a front for HOPI. It may seem that the existence of superhuman and other creatures is a rather open secret what with all of the people in these different departments running around trying to capture them. In actuality, few know the full truth, while the rest just follow orders and file paperwork.

It's Seattle -- only not... The city of Seattle, and the world it inhabits, reflects our world. I use real locations, real streets, and real public figures for peripheral public figures. I create from whole cloth any major NPC the characters will interact with, from business tycoons to federal agents to the Seattle chief of police. I used Microsoft and Weyerhaeuser, but invented new board members to interact with the PCs, and also to tie them into a fictional dynastic family I created to live in Seattle. The big difference between the game world and the real world is that there are a few people out there with weak (by Champions standards) powers. There is a conspiracy (of course) where these people are captured, discredited, or otherwise suppressed to maintain the status quo. I was originally going to have these powers be primarily mutations, with some martial arts "chi" powers, and a rare, ritual style magical system. Then one of the players referred me to the "Bob Howard - Laundry" series by Charles Stross. I bought "On her Majesty's Occult Service" which had all of that in one hardback, and enjoyed the magic system. Basically, a new form of mathematics allows people to channel energy from other dimensions to do stuff, or summon creatures (usually Cthuloid). He played "Johnny London" a Laundry field operative left out in the cold after a bureaucratic reshuffling, so this type of magic has played a big part so far.

I'm hesitant to post my campaign info -- the existing campaign threads are so enjoyable, it's a little intimidating. But, I've encouraged other people to post their campaigns, however they may feel about the quality. So, here goes. First, I'll lay out the world, then some important NPCs, then I'll post PC synopses. I almost put this in Dark Champions, as the world is more realistic than Champions four-color, but it has powers and magic, so I decided this would be the best place.

Re: [Campaign Log..kinda]Small Wonders How's this campaign coming along? Have you had any more games?

Re: Suggestion Box: name our Teen Champions team They're situated in Sacramento? How about "Delta Force" since the Sacramento Delta is right here? There is a lot of Gold Rush history to tie into. How about the "Gold Minors"? Or an even worse pun, the "Forty Minors"?

Re: Campaign Idea: Mad World Wow. This sounds like a ton of fun. So, uh, not to curse one of your current games or anything, but would you be interested in running this Play by Email or on HeroCentral?

Re: Superheroes, Power and Responsbility Well said. Rep!

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! This sounds like a great campaign. When do you guys meet again? Will you have time to post more updates?

Re: Questions about Absorption and Duplication Huh, I didn't even think about that. I was concerned about the recursive nature of Absorption feeding into its own maximum absorption limit. My idea is that the absorbed points would go into increasing the number of duplicates, not the point total of each duplicate. They would have to be altered duplicates without Absorption, since they wouldn't have any Duplication power to put the points into. Unless the GM ruled the points could feed back to the Base Character's duplication... I suppose I could get a similar effect by buying the duplication power with a preset number of duplicates, but with a limitation of only 1 duplicate per BODY inflicted on the base character. What do you suppose a limitation like that would be worth? EDIT: Almost forgot, thanks for the page numbers and reference links!

I was thinking about a character with Absorption feeding into Duplication and the Absorption max. This was inspired by the Whit Knight defense, which I understand is borderline legal, would you allow this combination? If so, could the duplicates also have this, so that if a duplicate got hit, he could spawn off another duplicate? Or would it only be legal for the base character?