Wakshaani

Re: Question on Golden Age of Champions

Good to hear! It was always a fun book, and I always looked forward to seeing a write-up of more heroes than just Vanguard. The rest of the 'team' looked interesting and teh setting's a blast. I mean, heck, what player *doesn't* want to punch some Ratzi right in the mush, right?

Re: Question on Golden Age of Champions

this one from the original book 1985

THAT's the one!

Oh lord, I can finally sleep.

Bless you.

Been a while ... a LONG while ... since I've seen the book, but, I recall near the end, with the villains, there was a group picture with Victory, Fletcher, Illy Smith, and a few others.

Could anyone A) upload a shot of that pic and,

list who the heroes were in there?

My OCD triggered and I don't think that I'll be able to sleep without it.

Be much obliged.

Re: Resurrection Man, any ideas?

+10 Body, Invisble (+1/2)

5D6 Healing, 0 End, Persistant, +10 active points max, Self Only, only when at -10 Body (-2)

Variable Power Pool (lots) -- Only changes when "Dies", no control over what powers gained.

(Disadvantage)

Phsyical Limitation: "Dies" after losing 20 Body damage. (Infrequent, greatly limiting) ... remains "Dead" until at full Body again.

This gives you a person with 10 Body who "Dies" at -10 Body, properly, but has the ability to heal himself, then get up with a new power set. He can recover from "Dead" (-10 Body) to "Fine" (10 Body) in just a few phases, thanks to his Healing, but if he's damaged quite badly (Say, has taken 30 Body total), it takes a few more days to get back up. His invisble Body acts as an overflow buffer ... If he takes 20 Body, he "dies", but is actually at 0 Body, which is when his Healing will activate, keeping him from bleeding to True Death.

A bit fudgey, but still works. Look out for things like drowning, disintegration, or being burned to ash ... he doesn't really get up from these too well, tho, in *theory* once he hits 20 Body damage and 'dies', he could develop powers that make him immune to the current condition (Waterbreathing, +20 ED armor to Fire Only, etc), depending.

Re: Build Me A Villain Team

Sure, I'll chip in!

First, we need to look at the dynamic of a good tam. You need a leader, first and foremost. Any group can get together and do crime, but the rare ones have a leader strong enough to keep such disparate personalities working together. They need to have a good reason for sticking with him, even if one or two plot to take over the Big Chair. He doesn't need to be the smartest, nor even the best planner, so much as he needs to be charasmatic. After this, you need an enforcer, someone loyal to the cause who'll keep the others in line, someone chomping at the bit to take over butw illing to wait "For now", one or two ammoral types who don't care so much who leads as long as they're progressing towards a goal (More power, more loot, finding a cure for thier lycanthrope, whatever), and often a soft-hearted one that could be won over if the heroes take a soft approach ... they have to win in the end, after all, and talking one of the villains into switching sides, to let them out of a Deathtrap, is *classic*.

So, flipping through Conquerers, Crooks, and Killers, but, not having the other book mentioned, I substitued the base Champions rulebook (Hopefully valid!), here's what I came up with.

Leading the show is Stormfront, a charasmatic machine with huge, flashy powers (He controls the weather! Thunderbolts from the sky!) not the smartest guy ever (Advance his sheet to a 13 Int, probably), but an old-time evangelical scammer who knows how to win people over like few others (Advance his sheet to 30 Pre). Jack his powers up a few DC, depening on just how much of an upgrade you want these guys at, let his psych lims grow a bi (No longer worried about working with others, he's now thinking of himself as a god, perhaps, or, if you don't want him crazy, he's *playing* a guy who thinks he's a god but is actually quite sane, just loves teh adoration/fear and is hooked on it.) ... for bonus fun, give him a megascale option on his basic weather control from an Immobile OAF machine left over from someone trying to take over the world back in the 70's. A relic that hasn't worked in decades, he can channel his *own* power into it and reactivate it. For bonus fun, call it the Corialis Machine as a nod to the old days.

Stormfront, in this take, is looking for more converts. In addition to his villain team, he needs some really loyal normal followers that are just DEDICATED to him. He also wants to bring more villains into the fold, or even flip a hero or two. His dream is to seduce Withcraft, taking both her and Talisman as his consorts. He also, of course, wants to rule the world, not for the *power* so much as the adolation. He just loves holding a crowd in the palm of his hand, having them do his bidding... no real plan for what to do if he *has* the world, other than enjoy it.

Herculean stands in as the Enforcer, Stormfront's righthand man. The honorable alien was defeated in a fair fight by Stormfront and fell in line with him afterwards, finally finding someone with an air of nobility and passion that he could see as an 'Emperor', of sorts. He chafes quietly, a tiny flaw that a hero could exploit if they really paid attention, but, for now, he's a rock-solid follower. He's storing the cash that they attain in hopes of just *buying* a way off the planet sometime, but understands that this may well take a while and sees that, hey, if Stormfront *does* conquer the world, he can easilly use teh resources to get Herc back home. Until then, he's teh right-hand man, giving tactical advice and sporting an odd array of powers that most hero teams can't deal with.

The aformentioned Talisman stands in as the magical force, a counterpoint to the normally science-based team, giving them a few options to try a new angle on things now and then. She's playing with forces more and more dangerous these days, has picked up the Janus Key, and fell in with Stormfront's charm. She'd be interested in playing the field a bit, both enjoying the friction that a little jealousy can generate and to have a backup plan if STormfront ever goes down, but, no one else in the group is really worthy of it. As such, she'll likely glom onto a male hero and try to coyly seduce them as a "Villain against her will" or the like. She will, of course, be lying her tail off, standing as a honey pot to trap him to her liking. She's powerhungry, with an addiction to danger, but not *crazy* ... she never has sold her soul, for example. She's just willing to take large magical gambles, thinking that she's more powerful than she actually is.

Black Harlequin is, easily, the scariest member of the team. He somehow fixated on Stormfront as a father figure ... and a nice one, too, like his papa the dollmaker, not the others who he himself killed. Stormfront lets him make wonderful toys, keeping him supplied with tools and supplies, and seems to actually like what he builds, bringing BH joy for his heart. He's an utter sociopath, mind, and will kill without a thought, not really understanding that a broken "toy" can't be rebuilt, the one person on teh entire team that has no qualms with a body count. Harlequin is, easily, the smartest person on the team and a gifted, if warped, inventor, which can be guided, carefully, by Stormfront to figure out things ("Think of it as a game." "Oo, I love games! Thank you papa!") or build superdevices, such as getting the Corialis Machine working. His lethal toys are, of course, also quite handy in terms of threatening DNPCs, hitting a hero team in their soft underbelly.

Ogre is cheap muscle, pure and simple. To dumb to do much on his own, he simply falls in with Stormfront who seems to take care of him ... Stormfront can easily bamboozle the slow-witted muscleman. He's also charmed by Black Harlequin's toys, and the two serve as playmates, with Ogre being immune to the deadly toys' attacks and BlackHarlequin thrilled to build toys for someone who enjoys them. Sometimes the two squabble like children, but Stormfront or Masquerade are there to settle things. Even more then Herculean, Ogre stands in as the raw power in a fight, swatting heroes like flies.

Green Dragon stands in, for now, as the sixth wheel, but doesn't really belong. Harlequin, Talisman, and Stormfront have solid ranged attacks, Ogre and Herculean up-close, so a third melee fighter, and one that was fast, rather than tough, was needed and Greenie was the only one who fit the bill. He'd be the "Starscream" of the group, unhappy with following a "mere occidental", but likes the cash and loves getting to square off with superhero martial artists, to prove his superiority. He'd love to take over, but doesn't have the power base. He's likely to be replaced down the road (And if I had the other legal book, I'm sure he would be!), but, for now, he's, you know ... there.

For support, Stormfront has mainly his loyalist cultists, his Jim Jones-like charisma having brought many people into the flock, but there's one in particular that stands out; Masquerade.

Masquerade is the non-combat support for the team, a shape-sshifter without equal and one that, for whatever reason, has fallen prey to Stormfront's charm. She (Masquerade has taken a female deault form and personality, to better please her lord) is the left-hand of Stormfront, taking on all the sneaky, underhanded missions, gathering intel, and rooting out non-believers, serving as a backup as well in case he or his are ever captured, an emergency escape based not on a teleporter or legal trickery so much as simply taking out the driver of the Primus van, taking his place, and happily driving off "To Stronghold" before letting everyone out. She's absolutely fallen under his spell, smitten and sharing a bed with her lord, willing to endure whatever he asks of her in his service. Hers is the strongest loyalty of all, but, should it ever break, it would shatter into hate, "A woman scorned" and all that. He cares for her, however, insomuch as he cares for anyone who isn't himself, and mroeover, she *thinks* that he loves her, and that's a tether that will be amazingly hard to break.

So, there ya go. In honor of the egocentric nature of the bossman, we'll even call the group Stormfront, taking the leader's name as their own, and letting you use his loyal cultists in fun, thematic ways. The group has a team balance held together by sheer force of personality, a wide mix of origin and powers (Mutant! Mutate! Magic! Alien! Gadgets! Whee!) and, while it most often takes a scientific angle, can sometimes hunt down old magical artifacts as well. They're no Eurostar, but, there's some real breakout potential with this group.

Wish I had somebody better than Green Dragon, though. Any evil speedsters out there?