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Shared Origins: Green Butterfly PDF

(1 review)
$3

SHARED ORIGINS: The Green Butterfly

A CHAMPIONS Supplement of Characters and Concepts

 

Some Books Can Change Lives: More so than usual for the grimoire called Metamorphosis of the Green Butterfly. This rare and ancient book of magic teaches a spell to gain super-powers - to become, indeed, a nascent demigod. But the spell is unreliable and dangerous. Instead of metamorphosis and ascension, some people suffer death or transformation into rampaging monsters. Will you risk everything, body and soul, for a chance at power?

 

Here's what you get in Shared Origins: The Green Butterfly:

 

* Background and game mechanics for Metamorphosis of the Green Butterfly, the Origin Grimoire.

 

* Four sample villains who gained their powers by using the grimoire, from the cunning Capricorn to the tragic, nearly mindless Elemental. Each character comes with a complete character sheet, background, story seeds, and a full-color illustration.

 

* One sample hero, ready to play or use as an NPC.

 

* A discussion of origin stories in which heroes and villains knowingly face great danger. What matters so much to you that you'd risk death for the sake of power?

 

Uses HERO System 6th Edition or CHAMPIONS Complete.

 

THE SHARED ORIGINS SERIES

 

This series of mini-supplements for CHAMPIONS provides "Origin Stories" that players and GMs can use for many different characters. Coming up with character origins is work; reusable origin gimmicks help you spend more time on character backgrounds and motivations and less time explaining why heroes and villains have super-powers in the first place. (Shared origins can also tie characters together and create story hooks.) Each supplement supplies background information and game mechanics for one shared origin story, a ready-to-play sample hero, and a selection of sample villains. Supplements stand alone to make it easier to plug the sample characters and origin story into your own superhero setting.

Product Reviews

Grand Master

FenrisUlf

(edited)

review_46
  

My personal favorite of Dean Shomshak's three Shared Origins PDFs, this one covers a grimoire, the Green Butterfly, that has a ritual that can grant godhood (or at least superpower-hood) to anyone willing to take a chance on the ritual. As Mr. Shomshak says, good origins can be difficult to come up with, so when you find a good one, use it more than once. It eases character creation and lends a greater sense of reality to the campaign and setting.

 

The PDF starts off with half a dozen pages on why people might make such a dangerous choice, as well as a detailed background on various editions and versions of the Green Butterfly itself. Mr. Shomshak idly tosses off names for various superheroes and villains, along with some quotes by them that help set the mood for the book. He then goes into themes for potential character builds -- I mean, variations on the Green Butterfly ritual. Oh yes. The grimoire's make-me-a-god ritual needs to be personalized for everyone who performs it. Which makes for some fine scenario and story ideas as the would-be demigod has to fine tune their ritual via whatever consecrated magical tools, proper times and places to do the ritual, and more to get the results they think they want. Mr. Shomshak also helpfully provides some possible themes for the character and ritual, ranging from Hermetic Theurgy to astrology to Tarot cards to the elements, angels, demons, and pagan gods. We get a section on uses for the grimoire that don't involve its being used to empower someone, and finally some story seeds. I admit to enjoying all of this section.

 

Then comes the game rules. How many points the grimoire and its ritual cost and why you can't just mass produce it (unless you want to), likely point levels for created characters, the languages it's written in, and the chances of blowing the ritual. You really don't want to make a mistake when doing the ritual.

 

Next comes some sample Green Butterfly characters, with one hero, the serpentine Coil, and a number of villains ranging from people who did the ritual properly like the sorceress Capricorn, the lecherous and creepy necromancer Tonton Cadavre with his super-zombies, and the monstrous and tragic Elemental - suffice it to say that New Agers and classic ritual magic don't mix. Oh, and the mind controlling Dictator, who comes off as a great example of the one-big-power sort of bad guy with a weakness that makes it possible for weaker characters to defeat him.

 

Last is an appendix with three brief dangerous choices for super-origins. The Poison Chi ordeals for people who don't want to spend thirty years meditating their way into martial arts mastery. The Huan Process for 'I want a superpowered flunky right now, and I don't care how many lab rats you have to kill to get there'. And the drug Rampage-5, which is like DC's Bane but even more powerful. All three choices list a few intriguingly-named characters to be fleshed out by players and GMs.

 

Really this is a great piece of work and for a very affordable price. If you want some ideas on character origins that can connect to each other and the campaign, especially if you like Mr. Shomshak's other books on mystical characters and settings for Champions, you will be glad you got this PDF. I know I am.

Edited by FenrisUlf