assault

Re: What is the difference between Champions and Champions Universe?

Perhaps you could explain the difference by saying that Champions Universe outlines a particular superheroic setting and style of game, while Champions outlines the range of superheroic settings and game styles it is possible to play.

Yes, there is a small amount of material about the Champions Universe in Champions, but it is not repeated in Champions Universe.

I am unlikely to ever exactly use the Champions Universe, but I found that there was enough stuff worth lifting or taking inspiration from to make it worth buying. On the other hand, Champions is one of the books in my regular reference pile.

Re: What concepts have you used for a 'Superman'?

I've used the Hulk/Captain Atom-style Radiation accident thing. It's big and flashy enough to create a Really Powerful Superbeing.

Dr Manhattan's origin is a variation on that theme.

Merging with a deceased relative works too. Merging with a relative who became deceased in a nuclear blast works even better!

See:

Captain Triumph http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/c/captrium.htm

the Australian Captain Atom http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/c/capatom.htm

and, of course...

3-D Man! http://www.geocities.com/ratmmjess/3dman.html

While we're at it:

Blue Beetle http://www.toonopedia.com/beetle2.htm

Molo the Mighty http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/molo.htm

Re: What happened to the Champions?

After discovering the "final truth" of Combat Luck, Seeker returned to Australia and established a training school for Swashbuckling Ninjas. His first crop of graduates should be appearing Real Soon Now.

---

Incidentally, Seeker was one of the few truly memorable characters in the 4th Edition CU, on a par with Dr Destroyer, Foxbat and Eurostar. Dropping him was a mistake, especially since he seems to have been replaced by the much blander Shugoshin.

Re: DC's Best "Bricks"

1. Superman.

2. Captain Marvel.

3. Big Barda.

4. Orion.

5. Power Girl.

Re: Marvel's Best "Bricks"

1. Yes, obviously, the ever lovin' blue-eyed one.

2. Luke Cage.

3. She-Hulk.

My original design of Assault was inspired by the last two. There ya go.

Re: Paging Assault!

Just to help out Dr. A.

I rarely see you in the NGD but he's got a message their for you!

Got it.

And, yes, I very rarely visit the NGD.

Re: Captain Atom?

He is not a demibrick. He's almost as strong as Superman.

In fact, in the Charlton universe he effectively was Superman, or rather, the equivalent. So you could quite reasonably make him exactly as strong as Superman.

But obviously that isn't going to happen with a homage.

The DC version of CA tends (tended?) to rely on his blasts more than his strength, so downgrading his strength a bit wouldn't do much harm to how he operates.

Re: Captain Atom?

A friend of mine had a radiation-powered character write up that included a "transform: radioactives to inert materials" defined as absorbing all the radiation. Handy power for a super to have' date=' when one sometimes runs into villains with a-bombs, overloading nuclear power plants, etc.[/quote']

 

It is handy, isn't it? I wonder how expensive it would be?

 

Then again, it's the kind of power you stick in a multipower and forget until you really really really need it.

 

Speaking of which, I've been rereading early Silver Age Green Lantern, and he had to sit on a couple of exploding nukes. That was one of the few things he did in the early days that point unambiguously to him being a cosmic character. Most of the other stuff he did could have been handled by a character of a more typical Champions power level.

 

Why yes, there is a reason why I am doing that analysis.

 

I've been considering a vaguely Captain Atom like character too. Partly as a tribute to the Australian Golden Age character of the same name (http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/c/capatom.htm ). Yes, that's the guy in my Avatar... I also collected the DC/Charlton character's series.

 

Mechanically, the biggest problem with characters like this is the need to buy Life Support. It takes points away from your combat effectiveness with little practical return (but lots of coolness). As a result, characters that should be towards the top end of the power scale risk ending up at the bottom.

 

OIHID helps, though. Elemental Controls might be worth investigating too, although my fondness for Multipowers doesn't leave much that could be put into an EC.

 

Actually, this thread is firming up a character idea that I am working on... An OIHID demi-brick with energy powers is starting to look good... Now to cram him into an inadequate point total....

Re: THRILLING HERO TALES — A Campaign Chronicle

When there a dozen or so bodies scattered about' date=' large firearms present,[/quote']

 

Ah, well, there's the first problem.

 

Strolling around like Chicago gangsters is just asking for trouble.

 

And I wasn't talking about characters that were just white. I was talking about characters that were British.

Re: Ridiculous things in comics that you don't mind.

All sentences end in exclamation marks! Except for questions!

Re: [interest in an online game?] Avengers: Generation 3

Not for my character' date=' but a question: how difficult would it be for Ben Grimm (aka the Thing) to sire a child? [/quote']

 

I think it would be most likely to occur during one of his occasional periods of reversion to human.

 

Not that difficult, in other words.

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the background and characters if you can spare the time.

I don't have anything special to say, but it looks interesting.

I may even submit a character for the This Mutant Life game. I've got a suitable character at the "back of an envelope" stage.

Re: THRILLING HERO TALES — A Campaign Chronicle

He suggests that the PCs follow him to a nearby hideout to avoid unpleasant questions from the swiftly-arriving colonial police' date=' and they do so.[/quote']

 

I would have thought that the colonial police would have been the ones facing unpleasant questions. After all, they were the ones letting gangs attack Europeans in the streets.

 

It just goes to show why you should always have at least one British PC in your pulp games. Or better yet two, since a valet is always useful.

I was thinking about "The Incredibles Problem", aka, "What happened to the Supervillains?", and that led me to consider the other people who fight supervillains - the super-spies and super-agents.

Obviously the official CU has SHIELD-homage agencies like UNTIL and PRIMUS.

Other possibilities are Men In Black style agencies, with a more low-key approach, but with similar ultra-high technology.

Then, of course, there are the James Bond types. Bond, of course, routinely deals with mastermind type villains, and the occasional near-super thug, but doesn't fight actual superhumans. A slightly wilder variation on the theme is of course, The Avengers (John Steed and Mrs Peel, etc), who actually did deal with the odd robot and so on.

And finally, there are the "just plain tough and smart" cop types - basically non-powered action heroes. In comics, they would include Dan "Terrible" Turpin (famous for arresting Kalibak the Cruel, the son of Darkseid(!)), plus, I suppose, Commissioner Gordon, at least on those occasions when he is allowed to use his own brain, rather than being totally dependent on Batman.

So there are actually models for filling the gap in cases where superheroes aren't around, as long as the supervillains aren't that numerous, or that, well, super.

These are, potentially, quite playable situations. This is not a new idea, of course, since The Great and Powerful Aaron Allston wrote Super-Agents twenty years ago, and it has been referred to in several publications since.

Still, just because it has been written about doesn't mean that many people have actually played in such a game...

I suppose what I am asking is: has anyone here actually played in such a game? How well did it work?

For my part, I am vaguely considering such a game as a mini-series, to be run as a side-show to an Incredibles style game.

I'm a bit torn between the idea of it being Cops versus Supervillains, or Spies versus Supervillains. Either way, it would have more in common with Champions than with Dark Champions, being, essentially, a four-colour superhero game where the superheroes just happen to be absent this week.

(Hmm... another possibility... Doctor Who and UNIT...)

Re: All-New Iron Age Zoo Crew?

You know, I could have lived my whole life in peace without knowing this. Now I need a lobotomy...

Just for revenge, try very hard not to think about the Iron Age implications of a character named "Captain Carrot".

Re: Golden Age Day Jobs

The invaluable "The World At War" supplement Mayfair Games published for their DC Heroes RPG back in 1991 contains a list of DC's Golden Age heroes, including their occupations.

Some have been listed above, but I'm not going to try to weed them out.

A fair few of them seem to be vulnerable to the draft.

District Attorney (& lawyer in general, I guess)

"former Athlete/former Janitor(!)"

Physics Student

US Senator(!)

Army Pilot

US Marine

Publisher

Chauffeur

Archeologist

Physician

Private Investigator

Chemist

Playboy

Debutante/Vulcanologist

Research Scientist

Apprentice Shaman

Student

Broadcasting Executive

Policeman

Newsreel Photographer

"Various" - "Boxing champion, rodeo cowboy, sailor, G-Man, crimefighter" and idiot.

Soldier/Espionage Agent

Journalist

Big Game Hunter

Radio Announcer

Newspaper Reporter

former Special Prosecutor/Private Investigator

Businessman

Student/Writer

Debutante

Assistant District Attorney

Scientist

Performer

Assistant Museum Curator

Police Detective

Novelist

Thief

High School Teacher

Spirit of Liberty(!)

Singer/Actor

Millionaire

Prizefighter

Stage Magician

Obviously, being young or female helps - neither are subject to the draft. Being a mystic entity without a "real" Secret ID is handy too, as is being legally blind! Nobody is going to conscript Dr Mid-Nite!

Re: Don't Buy Everything In a Good Story (Topic: Supers and the Law)

If the cops can take you down without superpowered assistance' date=' you have no business calling yourself a supervillain.[/quote']

 

Tell it to Dan "Terrible" Turpin.

Re: Don't Buy Everything In a Good Story (Topic: Supers and the Law)

This isn't much of a fix. If the cops can handle the supervillains there is no need for superheroes.

There wasn't any need for superheroes.

We don't have much of a sample, but it's quite possible that supervillains were actually rare and low-powered by the time the heroes were forced to retire.

That's quite plausible, if there are no revolving doors on the prisons. All the big boys could have been taken out of commission.

A lot also depends on how many supers there actually were. (About 20-odd were mentioned in the film).

Re: DC Universe Overview

Well' date=' now we have Superman vs. Darkseid to add to the list of other debates:[/quote']

 

Not really. Superman and Darkseid have fought before.

 

This kind of jobbing is exceptional.

Re: DC Universe Overview

Superman has imprisoned Darksied in the source wall for trying to kill Supergirl. Darkseid was doing it to cause torment to Superman' date=' just 'cause that is the kind of being Darkseid is. Superman tricked Darkseid into beleiving that he succeded and then use a mother box to first teleport them both into the sun and then to teleport them to the source wall where the first Gods where imprisioned for there arogance. [/quote']

 

Wow. That's just wrong.

 

Jack Kirby must be spinning in his grave.

Re: "What do you mean, the character came off the paper and won't come back?"

Yes' date=' I know, they're not *my* characters, but NPCs take life on me too. My imagination just won't shut up sometimes.[/quote']

 

This happened to me with Starburst, Crusader, Shrinker, Icicle and all the other characters that first appeared back in 1st Edition Champions. All of a sudden, Shrinker was Starburst's ex, Icicle was Crusader's niece, and so on...

Re: Pulp Hero Resources

The Museum of RetroTechnology:

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/museum.htm

For all your Mad Science needs...

Re: Kid Whiz and his SuperSonic Skateboard

It's not that bad. It's a pun on the term "Whiz Kid"' date=' which is still used t6o describe a prodigy. And when he goes by on that skateboard, you'll certainly be thinking "Look at that kid whizzing by!" [/quote']

 

I use Whiz Kid as a name for a teen speedster in my world. It's nicely Silver Age, and the "smutty" meaning doesn't bother me in the slightest.

 

After all, I've got a character called Uranus Lad as well...

Re: Your government anti-paranormal agents

The main model I'm using at the moment is the Southern Squadron universe created by Cyclone Comics back in the 80s. (See: http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/c/chaloner.htm )

Not being derived from the major US companies means that it's a bit of an oddity in terms of Ages, but Bronze probably sums it up pretty well.

It's been suggested that there are similarities between the Cyclone universe and the Giffen JLA, although the Cyclone universe is a bit more serious. And happened first.

Re: CHAR: Aquaman

Aquaman: Hi, fish!

Fish: Hi, Aquaman!

Aquaman: Have you seen any trouble in the ocean lately?

Fish: Hi, Aquaman!

More like:

Aquaman: Hi, sharks!

Sharks: Hi, Aquaman!

Aquaman: There's some yummy food over yonder!

Sharks: Mmm, food!

Bad Guy: Oops!