Jim

Hee's the Box Art. I recognize the two in front, but who's the big guy in the back? The others are too small to recognize, even if they are named characters.

Jim

Re: First edition Champions

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.waynesbooks.com/images/graphics/championsrulebook.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.waynesbooks.com/SuperHeroRPGs.html&h=230&w=178&sz=18&hl=en&start=65&tbnid=oCZvMx42S_ub2M:&tbnh=108&tbnw=84&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchampions' date='%2B1st%2Bedition%26start%3D60%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN[/quote']

 

As I remember, the true first edition had the same cover, but in black-and-white.

 

Jim

Re: on Ebay now: Wings of the Valkyrie

Looks like a good adventure, but price is a bit steep now. I'm still buying the current Champions and Hero stuff.

Re: Your FIRST Super Hero Character

It's fun reading others' entries to this.

I don't remember the superheroes I played as a young kid, but they were probably all derivative from the DC or Marvel universes. The first superhero character that I made for Champions (at least that I remember) was Time Tripper, back in the early '80's. He was a time traveling teleporter that picked up some very useful technology on his travels, including an autofire flechette stun-only weapon, an anti-grav belt, some nifty mini-grenades. We had to play a little bit loose with the rules, as Extra Dimensional Movement wasn't invented yet, but eventually a time travel advantage came out in one of the early Adventurer's Clubs. The time travel bit only created some great story-lines, and had little affect on the combat. I played him in our home games and at some Cons, but he was a bit under-powered compared to everyone else. Still, he was fun to play!

Jim

I am just starting back into Champions, and I find I need some help with ideas on how to build The Fighting Banana Slug's slime attack power. I currently have all his slime powers in a flexible slot multipower.

The concept: a banana slug's slime acts as an anasthetic, and when touched temporarily causes the attacker's membranes to go numb.

I interpreted this to be a Stun-only attack that would get through most defenses, that would affect someone attacking him hand-to-hand, could be used offensively, and would be sticky (i.e. like napalm i.e. they would take some further damage over time). This is what I came up with:

Energy Blast 3d6, Damage Shield (Offensive; +3/4), Continuous (+1), No Normal Defense ([standard] fully wrap-around force-field or LS: Vaccuum; +1) (56 Active Points)

This doesn't seem quite right, though. So, if you had to build a banana slug slime attack power, how would you do it? Feel free to reinterpret what the slime does, of course (I originally considered Suppression, e.g.).

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Jim

Re: a limited mimic power

I would say yes to the -1/2 disads Jim. To be honest, I don't know if you even want telepathy if all you're doing is copying someone else. If you're doing someone like Rogue where you're also stealing the mind of the target, I can see it. If you're doing someone like Taskmaster, where you are just copying someone else's ability, you might only need to buy LOS on the target to be copied.

 

Additionally I think mental defense and breakout rolls will cut your powers off in the middle of combat if you're not careful.

CES

Got to stay true to the concept! This character (The Fighting Banana Slug, aka Sluggie) radically evolved from a "lesser being" (i.e. a banana slug) and part of the evolution involved learning skills and language through social osmosis (aka passive transmission of knowledge). I wanted to take that to the extreme and have Sluggie be able to perform EBs acquired through the same passive transmition. Telepathy seemed the best pathway, and since Sluggie cannot talk, the best way for him to communicate, as well.

And yeah, I know there are downsides to this way of operationalizing the concept. But it seems the best way, so far. I'm still fiddling...

Jim

Re: Stronghold superhuman classification system

Hiya,

 

I was reading Stronghold and its nifty classfication system for superhuman prisoners, and while I got most of it, some parts still leave me baffled.

 

Essentially, I fail to get the precise differences between Yellow, Orange, and Red convicts as killing is involved, because I do not get what "callous disregard for human life" really means and how it differentiates from vanilla passionate and planned murder.

 

I assume that somehow it may involve unnecessary/serial/spree killing, murder for fun. But otherwise, I fail to grasp the full boundaries of the term. To make an example, a professional hitman or mercenary killer is told to be an Orange. What about a superhuman criminal that kills cops who try to arrest him and won't quit ? Or one killing people who disobey his orders in serious matters (e.g. a bank teller who refuses to open the vault during a robbery) ? Are they Orange, too ?

As I understand it, "callous disregard for human life" is usually used to indicate that while someone may not have "intended" to kill someone, he really didn't care about the natural consequences of his actions that led to, or could have led to, death(s). Instead of first degree murder, such a person's actions may constitute 2nd degree murder (lesser than 1st degree) or 1st degree manslaughter.

Here are some examples from Wikipedia (under the entry for Depraved heart murder):

• Piloting a motorboat at high speed through a crowded swimming area on a lake.
  
• Shooting a gun randomly at a bus with passengers aboard.
  
• Speeding in a car to the right of a school bus that is unloading children.
  
• Shooting a gun into a thicket, not knowing or caring if anyone is in the thicket.
  
• Killing someone while driving drunk, after having been convicted of drunk driving in the past
  

Hope that helps!

Jim

Re: a limited mimic power

What's the special effect for this? Could you copy Iron Man's repulsor rays? What about Captain America's shield toss? Scarlet Witch's hex waves?

 

That telepathy doesn't look powerful enough to do a whole lot. Are you okay with just picking up surface thoughts from weak-willed people?

No on Iron Man's reulsors and no on the shield toss, but yes on the hex waves. It's only EBs that come inherently from the person him- or herself, not from something that comes from a focus.

The telepathy might indeed not be powerful enough, but this is a beginning character that is not a mentalist (to say the least). This is a secondary power. I'll have to test this build in combat to see how useful it is.

Jim

Re: a limited mimic power

checkSIDEKICKS for a mimic power

There's a mimicry skill, but no power...

I don't see a problem but do agree that -0 is not enough for the limit put on. CES

What would you put for the following limitations on this EB:

1. Conditional Power -- Power Only Works with established Telpathic Link at +0 level

Once the link is established, I can use the power (provided condition 2 is met, of course). I don't have to re-establish the link each time to use it.

2. Conditional Power -- linked subject must have non-focus EB power (i.e. power doesn't derive from armor or gun, etc.).

I was originally thinking -1/4 each, but should they be -1/2 each?

Jim

Being a born-again n00b (i.e. played Champions a lot in the early '80's, but not at all since), I am curious as to what everyone's favorite power design was. You know, the power (or power set) you spent a lot of time conceptualizing and designing, getting the special effects, advantages and limitations just right. The power you're really proud of, not just your most effective power.

I don't have one yet, but I'm working on the mimic EB shown in another thread ("limited mimic power") in this forum. From the '80's, I remember that my gadget-rich teleporter (Time Tripper) had a couple of gadgets that I was proud of, including an anti-grav belt (1" of flight, Always On, OIF, Only Useable to stop falling) that was useful for teleporting up in the air. I would touch someone, teleport him/her/it and me up in the air and let go. At the time, I didn't play with anyone who had anything like it, so I was proud. I haven't figured how I would build that character today, with so many more options to choose from, but the anti-grav belt I would probably build as follows (using HDv3):

4 Anti-Gravity Belt: Flight 5", Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (20 Active Points); Independent (-2), OIF (-1/2), Levitation (-1/2), Only Useable to keep from falling (-1/2), no Noncombat movement (-1/4)

So what's your power?

Jim

Re: a limited mimic power

Unless EBs are relatively common' date=' I would think that the Conditional Power would be worth (-3/4) or (-1).[/quote']

 

I think it would depend on the campaign; there's no one to play with at the moment.

 

As it's conceptionalized and operationalized (i.e. built), though, I can copy the EB of an ally to use on an enemy. In other words, in any one fight I can get a willing link and Osmotic Blast from the Happy Blastin' Good Guy, as well as an unwilling link and Blast from the Evil Dr. EB.

 

What do you others think?

 

Jim

Re: Personal Sacrifice

What if the loss of "Life Force" was the loss of Character Points?

 

Every time the power was used the character would have to remove a certain number of CP worth of abilities/powers/stats from his/her sheet. It would represent him getting weaker, forgetting things, withering away, etc... Eventually he would have to remove the last of his BODY and die.

 

Very evil, but kind of cool.

Ooh, I like that! Have a side-effect of losing one character point per use. That would make people think twice before using it.

In addition, if the life-force is defined as body, why not just use the Susceptibility disadvantage (and buy it twice so that it does BODY and STUN damage per CCH, p398). That would make it worth 30 pts (Uncommon, 3d6, Instant, bought twice) or 40pts if Common. The only problem is that it is fully in the PC's control.

Jim

Re: a limited mimic power

Thanks, everyone, for your input! I built out the powers (telepathy and EB) using HeroDesigner and it's detailed below. I would appreciate any comments on the build and use of advantages and limitations. Am I being too conservative/liberal with the modifiers? How do you think this will play out in the game? Again, the goal is to "copy" the EB of someone else with whom my character has a telepathic link. So, here it is:

20 Telepathic Osmosis: Telepathy 5d6 (Human class of minds) (25 Active Points); Normal Range (Mind must be in vincinity; -1/4)

35 Blast by Osmosis: Energy Blast 10d6, Variable Special Effects (Limited Group of SFX; Only the special effects of those with established telepathic link; +1/4) (62 Active Points); Conditional Power Power Only Works with established Telpathic Link at +0 level AND linked subject must have non-focus EB power (-1/2), Limited Power Power limited to power level of linked subject (-1/4)

Jim

Re: Personal Sacrifice

The challenge: design a power that lets a character sacrifice some of his own life-force for the energy needed to fuel his powers. The power can only be used once every five minutes, and cannot remain active for longer than 60 seconds per use.

It depends what you mean by "life-force".... Do you mean a reduction in life-span? Do you mean a temporary injury (i.e. Body and/or Stun)? Do you mean a permanent injury (e.g. a perm. loss of Body or Con -- now that would be interesting...). The key question is whether the loss is permanent or recoverable.

While I think about the "how", could you answer the "what", Steve? If possible, that is. You may leave it up to us to define the "life-force" in question, of course....

Thanks for the challenge!

Jim

aka The Fighting Banana Slug

Re: A character in search of a name

But wait... how about:

Riptide

Brita

and for our flaming heroine, how about:

Eternal Flame

Ner Tamid (Eternal Flame in Hebrew)

Jim

I'm coming back to Champions after a half-life break (I stopped playing in 1986), so be kind in your responses to what is probably an ignorant question.

I'm building a character whose secondary powers are telepathy and (through that telepathy) an ability to mimic an opponent's energy blast. What I would like to do is just buy an energy blast power, and have a variable special effect based on the special effect of his opponent's energy blast, and require a telepathic roll in order to activate the power. Is it legal to have a varied special effect in this way? I can see potential exploitation issues, what with the different vulnerbilities of opponents. Do you see other pitfalls?

A caveat: I don't have the 5eR rules, just Sidekick 5eR (probably wait until 6e comes out or until I become re-obsessed with Champions), but if there are ways to do this under the 5eR rules, I would love to hear them. From what I understand, some people build mimic-powers as a VPP, but I would like to aviod that, if possible, since it just seems overkill for one power.

What do you all think? How would you build this power?

Thanks for your help!

Jim

Re: The Law: Felonies and other crimes

Here are links to Washington State criminal law in the US (note: this is just laws at the state level. Other more minor offenses may be classified under city codes):

Title 9 of the Revised Code of Washington - misc criminal laws

Title 9A of the Revised Code of Washington - the meaty stuff incl classification of crimes.

Hope it helps to have a real world example!

Jim

aka Time Tripper

aka The Fighting Banana Slug