Dr. MID-Nite

Re: Global Guardians PBEM: 3 Immediate Openings Will do....thanks for your patience. Rob

Re: Global Guardians PBEM: 3 Immediate Openings Thank you. Exactly what I wanted to know. Now....as I've never done this before....this link to your administrative list(which I assume gets me started). What exactly am I sending you..Just "hey...put me on your list"? Rob

Re: Global Guardians PBEM: 3 Immediate Openings I'm a bit lost....on a submission.....beyond the character sheet....with stats...what else do you want included...? I've never tried a PBEM, but wouldn't mind trying. Rob

Re: Quite possibly meant to be... Congrats. I run a game myself down in Dearborn, but my roster is currently full. I'll keep you in mind if something changes. Rob

Re: Pulp Film Recommendations Well...if you're going to include King Kong, I'd also include: Son of Kong(in some ways even more Pulp than the original) The Lost World(1925) Land That Time Forgot People That Time Forgot At The Earth's Core Warlords of Atlantis Valley of Gwangi Rob

Re: Can't decide what to get next In theory done. The repercussions from CB are still being felt in my campaign and will be felt for some time. Same could be said of Serpent's Tooth as well. I just felt Champions Battlegrounds was more "fun". Rob

Re: Russian Superheroes - Ideas and Comment Needed for 'Russian Dawn' game openings Rasputin: Not necessarily THE Rasputin(but he thinks he is). He thinks he's returned to the land of the living to redeem himself in the eyes of God. I designed him as a martial artist in the Kung Fu tradition...with an appropriate background. Rob

Re: Can't decide what to get next If you need villains, then I'd grab Arcane Adversaries or VIPER. Both have plenty of writeups For adventures, I'd give Champions Battlegrounds a slight edge over Serpent's Tooth. Rob

Re: Help me make a choice... More info: I'm the GM in a campaign, explaining my want for Villainy Amok. UNTIL and PRIMUS both exist in my campaign elements, but on the fringe. I could get by just on the info for both groups presented in Champions Universe. The major role of both in my campaign is to deal with bad guys after capture. The campaign takes place in Millennium City, but one somewhat less advanced than presented in the sourcebook(though still high tech by our standards). Magic plays a strong role in the campaign, with most of the PC heroes somehow involved in mysticism. Rob

I'd like to buy Villainy Amok. However, I usually buy books by the pair. So....I need a choice between the following: UNTIL Defenders of Freedom Vibora Bay Reality Storm Which should I choose and why? Rob

Re: [Newbie] Is desolidification truly unbalancing ? Well, I have two characters with Desolid in my current campaign. One is Spector, who has supernatural based Desolidification along with Invisibility and limited TK. The other is EBB, who has water based Desolid-not through airtight. I've never really had a problem with eiher in the campaign for the following reasons... 1) You can't attack while Desolid and neither has any powers that affect the physical world. So the use of the power is primarily either for stealth(I can sneak in to many places) of defense(wow that'd have fried me). I told both players up front how Desolid worked...so there were no issues in that regard. 2) Both players are big into roleplaying....and thus the more "powergamey" aspects of Desolid aren't as much of an issue. 3) As a GM, I don't mind the power that much. It basically leads to a stalemate...and the characters without Desolid become the targets. Sure the villain loses a phase, but so do you. Against a mess of agents, that tactic is worthless. The Megavillain may not be able to hurt you, but there are plenty of people he CAN hurt. 4) Both players have vulnerabilities that are likely to come up often. Spector is affected by magic attacks, which is common in my game. EBB is affected by sonics. While not that common, EBB is hunted by Eurostar, who has a member whose primary attacks are sound based. Plus, her vulnerability is well known. 5) Both players have plenty of other things they can do...so defaulting to Desolid all the time isn't as attractive. Both characters are balanced in other respects to make up for the advantages of Desolid. I've never had an issue with Desolid, but I'm a pretty control heavy GM from a character creation standpoint. Rob

Re: The Ultimate Mystic: Good, Bad, or what? I was a bit disappointed, but the book does have some useful information. Overall though, it's the least of the three "mystic" books by Dean, with Mystic World being the best. Rob

Re: This week on "Champions"... The Outsiders: Thursday 8PM: Half the team attempts to prevent the death of Marjorie De Wolf, while Violette and Spector uncover evidence in Japan that may lead to Dr. Destroyer.

Re: "So, Thor hits Superman with Mjolnir..." Well, they DID show this fight in the JLA/Avengers crossover. I'd say that Mjolnir just hits someone with the impact of an indestructible weapon hitting with the force of someone able to punch through a battleship behind it. In other words, it's going to hurt....no matter WHO you are or how invulnerable you think you are. But I'd say it otherwise isn't any more damaging then a tech weapon of similiar stats. Now, Thor can channel mystic/cosmic power through the hammer by channeling energy through interdimensional gates. That WILL hurt Supes more than normal I'd say. My only problem with the fight in the crossover is that they made it WAY too easy for Supes to win. I just don't think it would be that easy. Then they try to cop it out by having Supes say it was the toughest fight he ever had. I doubt that. The writers had Supes basically beat him pretty easily..... Rob

Re: Things that work in comics but don't work in Champions Note I said characters....NOT players. Basically, when it hits the fan, there's no dissension...ever....unlike most real comic book teams where Storm and Wolverine discuss the morality of using his claws in the middle of a fight. Rob

Re: Things that work in comics but don't work in Champions Basically....any sort of dramatic action that the players know will be ineffective. Example: The players won't Entangle Grond....even if it seems logical...cause the players know he'll easily break free. Running adventures where the players are separated is difficult as well(but not impossible). Adventures which pit the players against each other. Most of the time characters won't even disagree with each other in game. Rob

Re: Power level for God Really....it just depends on what you want the god to do. If his sole purpose is to show how ineffectual the PCs are next to him, then no stats are needed. If you want an honest writeup of a god who'll actually see combat, then I'd say this....damage reduction is your friend. Gods usually have stats far above a "regular" person(though not necessarily the 30+ considered superhuman these days). Generally, gods have good PRE and at least passable EGO(if only out of pure arrogant stubborness). Most have superhuman strength as well. Add in powers appropriate to their area of influence and a small variable power pool for random divine feats and call it a day. Rob

Re: 2006 Schedule Blurbs For me.... Nobles, Knights, and Necromancers: I doubt it. I don't run Fantasy Hero. Ultimate Mentalist: Definite yes. Stronghold: Probably, though without some villain writeups, I see this as a wasted slot for Champs products. Golden Age Champions: Probably yes, I don't own earlier versions...so this will make good reading material if nothing else. Psychic Wars: Maybe....need to look at it. Celtic Bestiary: Sure.....fantasy monsters without the work. Sounds good. Tuala Morn: No. Not needed for my game. Pulp Resource Guide and Thrilling Places: I'm running supers, so unless these offer something I can use...no. Ultimate Skill: A pretty safe yes. Villains, Vandals, and Vermin: Easy yes....if only to read the writeups. Horror Hero: Probably yes, unless it totally sucks writing wise. Danger Zones: Maybe...we'll need a lookthrough first. Champions Universe Update: The content will have to be really good. This means "new" writeups...and lots of them. Underworld Sourcebook: Not sure....probably not...but if content is good. The list will probably change anyways. Arcane Adversaries wasn't on the schedule originally and that was a very nice product...as was Champions Battlegrounds....so I doubt anyone really needs to worry. Rob

Re: 5th Edition Villain Updates Hmmmm...Power Crusher and Rainbow Archer both seem very popular. While I admit to liking Power Crusher myself, never saw much in Rainbow Archer. I guess I'm missing the appeal..... Rob

Hey all, I'm just curious about old villains that you've updated(who haven't been done "officially") and what sort of changes you made to them. I've done the following: Shadowfire(From Horror Enemies): I boosted his DEX and SPD a tad....and altered his quantum levels ability into a large Aid power. I also added some skills. Lilith: This was Shadowfire's daughter who actually never got a full write-up. I gave her Darkness, Entangle(Dark Bonds), and an ability to Summon Shadows. Otherwise, she's weaker than her father when it comes to characteristics and powers. Brother Bone(Horror Enemies): I boosted his SPD a point(3 SPD is too slow for supers) and changed his Multipower into a VVP(mainly due to the silly OAF spellbook limitation on the Multipower.) He got upgraded mainly because I liked his concept. Every character from The Olympians got an update. For those who care, my version of Zeus was around 1500 points. Most got improved EGO, PRE, and BODY, but reduced DEX. All got cosmic VVP to represent their random divine abilities. The pools varied based on the importance of the god. Most got 20 point pools. Armstrong(From Enemies for Hire): Serves as a bodyguard in my current campaign. Not much needed to be done to update him. Altered his crippling blow attack to fit into the version presented in Fantasy Hero. Ronin(Enemies for Hire): A nice concept....and with a little tweaking...hero material. I gave him some samurai martial arts to go with his sword. Bastille(Shadows of the Night): Became a hero in my old campaign and I kept him a hero in my new one. I mainly upped his STR a bit. Beyond that, he was already pretty good. Auto-Gunner and his boys(Challenges for Champions): Pretty easy conversion. Auto-Gunner is part of a new group of superpowered assassins in my game. I think I actually toned him down....lowering his SPD for example. Black Druid(Eurpoean Enemies): Rebuilt him to more closely resemble a D and D druid. I changed his clunky Multipower to a VVP and altered his more illogical stats(reducing his 30 EGO to 20 for example). Altered his Life Support a bit...as I didn't think being attuned to nature would allow one to survive in space or in radiation. The Hand(Challenges for Champions): I updated the entire group. They're still low powered villains, even with some generous additions of Skills, Perks, and Talents. Not too many rule changes for them. Boomerang got skills to tie her in with her DEMON background. Scrambler got a VIPER made sonic rifle to use. The others are more or less unchanged, with Firefist getting most of the changes(as his writeup didn't reflect his background). Starhand is still by far the most dangerous member of the group. Variable advantage on 50 STR plus Find Weakness says "I'm gonna mess you up" every time. The Despoiler(European Enemies): I did a heavy re-write of this villain. My version spent over 900 points, but reading the description...this is supposed to be a badass villain. To start, I switched his EGO and PRE(making the EGO 20 and the PRE 30) because it made more sense. I put most of his energy blasts into a Multipower. I added a 20d6 blast, but at full END, for those tough annoyances. I boosted his SPD to 6, but left most other stats alone. I altered his origin so that he's a servant and/or avatar of the Lord of Entropy. Despoiler wants to basically return everything to the nothingness from which it came....which of course means obliterating all reality. I altered his Damage Shield to a Drain vs CON and BODY. Not only did this fit into his new origin, but it made more sense as the drain would slowly rot his surroundings instead of him having to deal with the old EB Damage Shield construct which left one wondering how he could stand or walk. I upped the dice on "The Despoiler Effect" as that attack is supposed to bring fear into the hearts of opponents. I added Universal Translator and a Detect Physical Objects and Energy to round him off. Oh...and the Reputation Perk of course. One thing I didn't add was any movement powers...as that's his one big weakness. Facet(European Enemies): I gave him the ability to refract light through his diamond body...otherwise mostly the same as before. I changed his background so that he actually need precious gems to survive.(He eats them.) Glacier(European Enemies): Built him as a full automaton. Boosted his defenses so he's harder to hurt. Dr. Megaton and Fusion(Challenges for Champions): I made them father and son. Fusion lost the focus in the update. Megaton is mostly the same beyond some tweaking of skills. Anyone else have any updates they'd like to share? Rob

Re: Tentative 2006 Schedule

Re: Shadows of the City (by Scott Sigler) Ironically, my old group handled the Pack pretty easily, but The Disciples were a different story. I haven't run Shadows with my new group....mainly as the campaign standards are lower....so this would probably wipe out the entire group. Rob

Re: Shadows of the City (by Scott Sigler) Actually...Reign has that double Penetrating HKA and a Drain on defenses to boot! The others you mentioned are certainly deadly as well. Actually, most of the Pack was...ahem....packing...a Killing attack. I'd probably re-write most of the characters though....if only to balance them with skills and so forth...which were not as common in 4th. I actually DID re-write Bastille for 5th Edition...as he became a superhero. Rob

Re: Shadows of the City (by Scott Sigler) I've run this in the past...about 2 years ago actually. A very good adventure, but if you're wanting to run an adventure as "pure" Dark Champions(i.e. supers as trained normals and nothing more), this may not be for you. I'd say it's actually more of a darker standard superheroic adventure than anything else....with execution style killings, mysterious serial killings, and occult conspiracies. That said....my players have a great time going through it. I had to beef up the characters within to face my group...and in general...most of them would benefit from a 5th edition retooling. The Pack is a well designed villain group. One of the villains, Bastille, turned to good during the adventure and became close with my group from then on. I pretty much ran the adventure as written...though a large amount of time passed between part 2 and part 3 for my group. The book has suggestions for beefing up the bad guys for standard super campaigns(4th edition) and I was pretty much forced to do so. Most of the villains are very capable and loaded with killing attacks. The Disciples in particular handed my group their worst defeat in their entire history. Rob

Re: VOICE of DOOM Nicely done. It just occured to me how power gamey VOICE was. Still, your version is a nice extrapolation on the original. Good job. Makes me wish I still had the original module.Rob