Dr. MID-Nite

Re: Superassassins? I think Auto-Gunner fills the "blast them from long range" guy, though he's so unstable he'll likely try to off the heroes on his own.(Hence my logic behind him being a "reserve" member. Unfortunately, I don't have 4th edition CU or Classic Organizations. I don't remember the Sniper character to be honest. Loupe Garoux I remember....part of Red Doom if I recall. Now...Jade Phoenix is a possibility.....as my campaign takes place in Millennium City(as all the players and myself live there). My only fear is that he might be too fragile. I'll have to take a look at him. Unfortunately, I couldn't get that Dreamer file to open. I'll assume he was pretty cool.

Re: Superassassins? Thanks, Worldmaker. Interesting indeed.... Rob

Re: Superassassins? Red Raptor is more or less a pure gadgeteer type....and he specializes in analyzing superhuman physiology...so I figured he's be a good fit for a group like this. Auto-Gunner is more or less your commando type with a big ass gun. I complimented his original sheet with some autofire skills. Sebastion Shaw is a cool idea, though it's difficult to make an effective Champs version of him....least in my experience. Rob

I'm building a group of superpowered assassins. Not only are they superpowered themselves, they are hired exclusively for hits on other paranormals. I'd like to have six members, but I haven't figured out what I need for the group. I have...so far.... Auto-Gunner-Updated to 5th from Challenges for Champions. He's a reserve member. Red Raptor-Also updated from Challenges for Champions. He's the gadgeteer/scientist of the group. Speed Razor- Speedster...equipped wiith blades. I'm looking to add three more members, but not sure who...or what? I could care less if they're published characters or originals, but I'm looking for ideas. I'm also looking for a new name. I had been calling them The Liquidators, but the more I say it...the more I hate it. LOL Thanks, Rob

Re: Looking for HERO stats for: "Bullseye" Sounds good. I'd still add the objects of opportunity OIF focus to all of that...as that seems to be the only way he can hurt people. I think they also gave Bullseye an adamantium skeleton(like Wolverine), but I don't know if that's still in the current continuity. Rob

Re: Looking for HERO stats for: "Bullseye" Generlally....I think you buy killing attacks with the focus limitation...OIF Objects of Opportunity. This means he can use a killing attack, but only if there is something around for him to toss. He might also have Find Weakness...and/or Armor Piercing/Penetrating as a naked power advatage. Rob

Re: Agent combat.... Well....my intention wasn't that the agents had to win...only that they had to at least be considered a credible threat. I'd like to be able to use agents in those sessions where there just isn't going to be time to run a full blown fight. maybe the heroes just want to patrol the city tonight and they stumble onto something. That kind of thing... Rob

Re: Agent combat.... An interesting approach. My PCs would probably have a hard time...as they're not...as a general rule strong on DCV...or defense in general for that matter. Rob

Re: Agent combat.... Some intriguing tactics here. You're sneaky, Dust Raven. I like that. My group has a wide spread of defenses. So your "spread" idea might work very well with my group as even at 6d6...there are members of my team who won't want to be hit by that. Most of the team has public identity(or are at the very least well known) so VIPER probably has a pretty good idea of what they can do. Rob

Re: Agent combat.... 3 to1 or 4 to 1 would be very difficult to run for me right now. I'm a relatively inexperienced GM and agent combat tends to really bog me down...I'll lose track of what's going on and so forth. The more agents there are, the worse it seems to be. However, if you have any good tips for running agent combat efficiently, I'd probably be more willing to use more agents. Right now...ever a five on five matchup of supers can be a challenge for me to run. Not sure why...everything just seems to slow to a crawl... Rob

Hey all, I absolutely stink at running agent level opponents in combat(in a standard superheroic game). I can't seem to do anything to make them a credible threat...or even a decent speed bump. I've read the related articles in the VIPER sourcebook and so forth, but I'm still uncomfortable running agent combat. Maybe it's because there are so many to keep track of. I want to use a VIPER 8 team in a future scenario, but I kind of want the heroes to have a (reasonably) hard time. Right now...not sure how to do that. Any advice, for this poor GM? Rob

Re: CLOWN for 5th Champions

Re: CLOWN for 5th Champions While I wouldn't want to see CLOWN back on a regular basis, I think they'd make great backup in a one shot adventure involving Foxbat and the like. That way, their gimmick doesn't get old and so forth from overuse. Some CLOWN members are perfect for addind just a touch of credible threat to Foxbat(like Tag for instance). Rob

Re: Dream Teams - Champions Style My dream team was The Ultimates(we took the name after pulverizing Binder and friends). The group was: Lightmaster-Energy projector capable of turning himself into pure energy and traveling at the speed of...you guessed it...light. " You WILL see the light....or by my light, you won't see at all." Orca-Immensely strong(100 STR) Brick. " For the last time, I DON'T have a blowhole! " Guardian-Super intelligent power armored type- " Never before seen extra dimensional transport technology? Better give me TWO minutes then. " Ninja-Martial Artist. " Wyvern again? He's like the annoying dog that follows you home and won't go away." The Living EGO(played by yours truly)- Telepath/telekinetic....and with a big mouth. " Look...you can either surrender...or be defeated. The choice is y---...hmmm....come to think of it...it's actually mine, isn't it? " This group, the longest running group I was ever part of, was just great. We took on all comers. The highlight of our career was fending off an attack on Washington DC by a force of almost 20 supervillians! The battle was four sessions long, but we finally prevailed. We had a great balance of humor and seriousness and we were great as a combat force. Never seen the likes since. Rob

Re: Wohoo! I finally got to play a character!

Can anyone give me a practical assessment of what it's like to be in one of these? I've never tried it, but I'm having trouble finding a game here in Michigan so thought this might be an option. I'm heavy into character and could care less about combat(though I'm competent enough at it). Most important...are they fun and how much work is involved in them? Rob

Re: How do you get players to role play the genre? True enough. And it should come as no shock that none of the other players want to run the game. Still, giving up the game seems like a failure on my part. I'm going to do some serious question asking as to exactly what they want. What else can I do at this point...you know? Rob

Re: How do you get players to role play in genre? Just for the record, I did say I was willing to compromise. My only issue with that is I'm not sure me giving in will solve the inherent problem. Will me running a game more like Stormwatch or The Authority get me more role playing on the part of my players? My gut instinct is no. I'm also really lenient. I....for the most part....try my best to give them the game they want. There have been villain deaths(with...sadly...very little dramatic flair involved) and they generally get to use the level of force they deem appropriate. It seems like I do all the compromising...and the work(weekly RP updates, bluebooking, and the like) and I'm lucky to get even one in character dialogue blurb per adventure. Ironic thing is if I give them more combat, they're not satisfied unless it's a win for them. The instant a character is even Stunned, the whine fest begins. Generally, I feel as if I've somehow failed as a GM, as I can't seem to get anything out of the group. I read the boards constantly and have tried many ideas in the past...with so far little success. I really appreciate all the ideas though and will try anything I can reasonably manage. Thanks, Rob

Re: How do you get players to role play the genre? My apologies. Let me rephrase and say that D and D lends itself better to that hack and slash mentality. Good role players can certainly overcome this to be sure. Rob

Re: How do you get players to role play the genre? I'm willing to compromise a bit, but I don't want a hack and slash game. That's D and D to me....and if I wanted that...I'd be running that and save myself the headache. Rob

Re: How do you get players to role play the genre? Most of my players are familar enough with the source material and I've explained what I feel is in genre(I mostly go for silver/bronze age feel) many times. Of course, many of my players tend to prefer The Punisher, Stormwatch and the like....which is not helping at all.(Punisher is a psychopathic villain in my view.) Rob

Re: How do you get players to role play in genre? Well....generally I try to offer scenarios where there's a chance to roleplay quite a bit(dialogue with NPCs and so forth). I've also made it clear that I'd give extra XP for roleplaying. I've also....many times...given examples of what I consider in genre....and what is not. My group as a whole is from the Hack and Slash school of RPing and I frequently get scenarios and comments like this.. GM: " You're going to use 12d6 on a normal thug? " Player: " Well, if they can't take the punishment, then they shouldn't commit crimes. " This is frustrating as hell...as well as annoying. Yes, I can jail them and all that stuff, but that just turns the game into a me vs them scenario and I don't role play just to have hard feelings on the part of everyone involved. For the record, though I'm an experienced Hero player, this is my first time GMing. The game has run over a year...so it's not like these are new issues....or that they've never been mentioned before. Basically, the game is beginning to feel more like a chore...and I feel less and less incentive to provide interesting scenarios as as feel all that effort will be watsed. I really just don't know what else to do. I want the game to continue though(not a quitter here). Rob

Re: How do you get players to role play the genre? Sigh...thanks, but Hero gamers are rare in my area and I'm much more interested in "training/teaching" the current group. There MUST be a way. Rob

Hey all, I have a group that just can't seem to grasp the conventions of the genre no matter what I do or how much I try to explain it. They come from a Dungeons and Dragons background and the game just seems to degenerate into getting to the fight as quickly as possible. The players are rarely in character and when I try to run stuff that might lead to more roleplaying, it generally goes nowhere. And yes...I have told the players about my concerns, but they just don't seem to get it(or don't care). I'm at my wits end. Help! Rob

Hey all, I have a group that just can't seem to grasp the conventions of the genre no matter what I do or how much I try to explain it. They come from a Dungeons and Dragons background and the game just seems to degenerate into getting to the fight as quickly as possible. The players are rarely in character and when I try to run stuff that might lead to more roleplaying, it generally goes nowhere. And yes...I have told the players about my concerns, but they just don't seem to get it(or don't care). I'm at my wits end. Help! Rob