BoloOfEarth

The woman known as Luxuria is not what one expects to see as the embodiment of lust and lechery. She's not voluptuous, classically gorgeous or even overly cute, though she's not hideously ugly either. She's simply a plain Jane whose touch causes a person to begin emitting pheremones that render all who breathe them (including the person touched) incredibly lustful, with lowered judgement on what that person finds acceptable in a potential mate. The pheremones don't work at all on Luxuria in either direction -- they don't make her lustful, nor do they make other people desire her at all. - - - - - - - - - If somebody else has a team idea, go ahead and post it. Otherwise, I'll come up with something tonight or tomorrow.

Set up the situation right, and you can have them as investigative as you want. Perhaps they're a special unit within MCPD MARS, set up to be more proactive than reactive. (This could set up tension between their squad and other MARS squads who bristle at the PC unit getting "special treatment.") If set in Millennium City, you could have the Champions be MIA, necessitating an increase in both the activity and scope of MCPD MARS units (and making the PCs more important locally). You could even have the superheroes' disappearance be an overall plot arc that the PCs get hints and clues about while they deal with the "villain of the week" or "plot of the month." Maybe the Champions' disappearance is why the PCs' special squad was set up in the first place. So they have to dig into what happened to the Champions, but like detectives everywhere they have to juggle that investigation with other cases that might temporarily take priority.

I've always welcomed Secret IDs in any Champions game I've run, and most of the PCs have had Secret ID as a Disad. My upcoming game will be the first time I've run Champions in 6th edition, and very few of the players have taken Secret ID as a Complication, but most of them have given me background info that makes it clear that each has a secret ID as well as a superhero/superheroine ID. And I've asked each player to provide me with at least 5 NPCs (note: not DNPCs) to round out his/her character's "world". So I'll definitely devote some in-game time to all of their secret IDs, but as ghost-angel pointed out, it will be more of a factor for those who included Secret Identity as a Complication. I've never had a problem bouncing between different characters, both in secret and hero IDs, and keeping the other players from getting bored / drifting off. Maybe I'm just lucky, but over time my players have started to overlap their non-hero lives -- spending time as friends in secret IDs as well as having mutual NPC friends. PC heroes became unofficial "uncles" and "aunts" to other PCs' kids. The whole "maintaining a cover" thing is there, but it's not the bulk of how I use Secret ID. The heroes in my game sometimes discover useful info or key plot points in civvies that they might not have gotten in hero ID. For instance, a research scientist PC saw one of his grad students getting roughed up by an obviously superpowered individual. Now, I suppose he could don his armored battlesuit and question the student -- but he's more likely to get info out of the guy talking to him as a mentor. One heroine discovered that her fiance's admin assistant was getting involved in a women's empowerment group that turned out to be a front for a supervillainess group. Overall, it takes some effort, both by the GM as well as the players to balance the secret and hero ID stuff. But done right, it adds a whole new level to the game, just as fun for the players as the face-punching stuff (though obviously in a different way).

I've always liked Bob Greenwade's Oregon Hero Sanction. It's not simply the government registering and regulating superheroes -- as Bob says: I implemented it (with minor tweaks) in a New York City campaign I ran long ago, and plan to use it in my upcoming Boston campaign. Tweaks mainly involved making the computer files that included hero identity info more secure, based on suggestions made by the players.

Minor side note: I used to put together a one-page "newspaper" (the Hero.Net Herald, distributed mainly to supers) that I'd hand out at the start of each new adventure. Usually an article recapping the prior adventure, an article related to the upcoming adventure, and an article or two of either filler/fluff or foreshadowing. Stories of CLOWN's latest exploits against third parties (especially either direct foes of the PCs or real-world companies the players dislike) would be perfect filler. It would be interesting to see the players applauding CLOWN's antics for weeks, and then become the focus of CLOWN's attention (whether justifiably or not).

Thought of another one I'll share. One of the PC heroes, in secret ID, is a rich CEO of a large multinational corporation. And like all multinational corps, ABC Corp takes advantage of tax loopholes that, while perfectly legal, don't seem all that ethical to CLOWN. So the members of CLOWN begin to pull pranks on the officers of ABC Corp, especially the CEO -- completely unaware that (s)he moonlights as a superhero(ine). Does the hero(ine) use powers to avoid the pranks, and risk blowing his/her cover? And how does (s)he get CLOWN to move on to greener pastures? Variation on the same theme: one of the other higher-ranking officers in ABC Corp is actually doing illegal things but covering things up quite well. CLOWN learns of the illegal activity, but not who is truly behind it and thinks the CEO is involved in the cover-up, so the CEO of ABC Corp becomes the butt of jokes that also reveal that something is seriously wrong behind the scenes at his/her own company.

I'll start out with one: many new hero groups could use corporate donations and sponsorship (read: free points toward Base, Vehicles, Agent equipment), so when the hero team is approached by MicroPear Computing with a deal on some cutting-edge computers, they likely welcome the idea. Being paranoid, the heroes practice due diligence and make sure MPC isn't a front for VIPER, ARGENT, or some other criminal / terrorist / villainous organization. Luckily, MPC passes muster in that regard, so the heroes can accept the company's offer of a free computer system for their base, with portable devices for the individual heroes. (Say, 20-25 real points worth of gear.) Well after the gear is all in place, the heroes hear of CLOWN hacking various MPC devices to force-display video ads for the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory ("Over 100 years without lethal fires!"), Foxconn ("Where coworker suicide is the key to career advancement!"). This eventually includes the heroes' new computers, happening at an inopportune moment -- the heroes are sneaking into a VIPER base when their complimentary cPhones begin blaring out a fake ad for Nike -- "What's a little child slavery if the prices are low? If the shoe fits, Wear it!". It seems that MPC's overseas factories play a little loose with work conditions and child labor. So CLOWN starts off drawing parallels, but soon takes it to the next level and begins playing a little loose with secure information on MPC computers.

To quote from Hermit's quite excellent post: Reading the above got me thinking: what kind of scenarios would be suitable for using CLOWN in ways that leaves them crossing swords with the heroes, without them necessarily trying to make the heroes look foolish? I'm sure the creative folks here could come up with a few that would work well. Full disclosure: I'm starting a new Champions campaign soon and would be interested in finding ways to bring CLOWN into the mix, without causing a lot of hate among my players. So I plan to blatantly steal borrow the ideas here for use in my campaign. And since my players don't frequent these boards, I'm more than happy to hash out and flesh out adventure ideas here.

Fly to London, where I spend the studio's money building a 50-meter tall animatronic ball of fur with blazing eyes to terrorize the populace.

He super-glues a plastic duck bill to your face and has your name legally changed to Howard. NT: You've been put in charge of a "Howard the Duck" remake - what are you doing to make it an awesome movie?

In all seriousness, I can't speak for him, but personally I enjoy the idea of time travel, but get irritated when either (1) it's handled so simplistically that the simplest paradox blows the whole thing apart, or (2) it's handled in so complex a manner that you need a degree in quantum physics to understand, and so they suck all the fun out of it. However, I also realize that some viewers will want all the details explained. (As if TV show scriptwriters have degrees in quantum physics.) Really, if you over-analyze it, most sci-fi time travelers come off as rather major jerks.

His future self told him it's impossible.

News media in all fifty states continue to report the goings-on with the Kardashians, causing intelligence levels in all states to continue to plummet.

I've always been suspicious of Len Goodman. We're amazed to discover that Grond really has some great moves. Good thing, too, because nobody wants to vote him off.

I have to admit, it's a bit disconcerting to see all these cute pictures of animals that Cygnia posts, with *shank-shank-shank* diretly underneath. I feel like... "Oh what a cute wet puppy..." (*shank-shank-shank*) "... um, never mind. Well, how about that little lamb cuddled up to that kid?" (*shank-shank-shank*) "Hmmm... guess Cygnia was hungry for some lamb chops. Oooo! what a cute baby seal!" (*shank-shank-shank*) "I guess now I know why it's eyes were so wide. It wasn't a look of cuteness; it was a look of terror."

"If Foxbat isn't running, I'm not voting!" NT: Surprising things to find on Charles Manson's wedding registry. [Difficulty: nothing escape-related.]

The CEO of Fox, so I can turn the movie rights to Fantastic Four and all related characters back over to Marvel. Maybe then we can finally get a decent FF movie.

You're the world's greatest neurosurgeon, inventor of the "screw-top cranial surgery" technique. NT: You're in a horrific accident, and Dr. Hfuhruhurr is going to transplant your brain into a celebrity's body. Which celebrity are you hoping for, and why?

You forgot "doze." At least for Cancer's three, I think you need to swing by New Yawk some time. Head down to Toity-Toid Street. Anybody dere will tell you dey don't need none of dem electrocution coaches to correct deir speakin'. The internet really, really needs a sarcasm font.

Obviously, we need a genderless pronoun to continue having a full discussion of robot sexuality. That way, we can avoid saying "she," "he," or "it" and just use something like "s/he-it" (for example). After all, when you really get down to it, I think most of us here, myself included, are full of "s/he-it". I think many people on both sides of this issue should keep that in the forefront of their brains -- in other words, have "s/he-it fore-brains." The problem is, the various posters think their own "s/he-it" doesn't stink. (Okay, I'll stop now, and take myself out back to be beaten profusely. Maybe I'll get the "s/he-it" knocked out of me.)

I finally got to see "Plastique" yesterday. Overall, I liked it, except that Barry's and Iris's interactions that episode seemed to be getting progressively infected with "teh Stupid."

"Sir, we're from the ASPCA. You do know that it's illegal to tie a cat's tail to a rope on a pole and allow the neighborhood dogs to play 'Tethercat', don't you?"

And exactly how is this different from normal? A war-hammer will be used on the next Mars lander to break apart rocks, simply so the scientists can say "It's Hammer Time!" every time they instruct the probe to use it.

I've been rather enjoying the show, to the point that I half-forced my wife and oldest daughter to watch the first four episodes last night. They both enjoyed it quite a bit.

Protecting London from a Godzilla attack. (It's easier than you'd think. Just put up a bunch of big signs saying "TOKYO" and a big arrow pointing east.)