Champion's Universe or your own

[quozaxx]

Would your campaign fit in the Champion's Universe, or is it a universe of it's own.

 

I currently GM 2 games.

 

One is called Sentry City, which is located in the middle of the Champions Universe (Actual location is somewhere between Oklahoma City and Kansas City.) I have even used Champions villains, and have moved some discontinued members to Millennium City.

 

But the other is called Aliens United. located somewhere in the vastness of space. Technically it COULD be in the Champion's Universe, but I don't think I'll be using any of the current resources.

 

So does your campaign fit (even with some small changes) in the Champion's Universe, or is it SO different (like all animal characters / world) that it wouldn't fit.

[Theron]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

Mine (currently on hiatus) is a weird mish-mash. The base of operations is Bay City from the old CNM books. But there was no Proprietor War, and pretty much all of the older established heroes are simply names I made up, since I'm intentionally running the game without a lot of history. What little history I have produced has largely linked the current city to George MacDonald's old Guardians campaign, and the Marksman is the current team's patron.

 

Most of my bad guys are straight out of CKC and VVV, with a bit of VIPER thrown in for flavor. But I pretty much scrap any back story on them that doesn't suit my needs.

 

In theory, there is a Millenium City, where the Champions hang out, but I've never touched on Dr. Destroyer obliterating Detroit. It's just assumed that Millenium City is Detroit's "superhero name," like Bay City is San Francisco's.

[bubba smith]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

milenium city as a nickname works

[Odraude]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

In the game I run, it is in the Champions Universe in a city called San Acero, which is supposed to be like San Fransico and Los Angeles put together.

[Psybolt]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

I have three campaign that I run, and they all happen in the same universe. My universe would occur outside of the Champions Universe, and I never use anything but my own villains and characters. Having said that, if there was something I liked, I could certainly adapt it. And NPCs are almost always homages to something or someone.

 

But to answer, my campaign would be outside the continuity of the Champions Universe.

[Peregrine]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

A mishmash, generally.

 

The Champions Universe is the standard source from which material is drawn. However, whatever the gaming group (GM and players) want to add, drop, or change is done so. We try to avoid direct borrowing from other settings, particularly supers settings; our general rule is "the farther it is from an official supers setting, the more likely it is that we'll all agree to add it".

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

Since the Fifth Edition sourcebooks came out I've based my games in a somewhat modified version of the Champions Universe. I've always loved mainstream four-color comics, and since the CU is firmly within that style it serves me well. I have jiggered a number of details of the setting's present and past, and excluded some elements while importing some older Champions characters and groups, and some original creations. However, I find that the rich detail and timeline of the CU makes the modification process easier for me, as I can see how everything fits together and what portions would be affected by a change.

 

In theory' date=' there is a Millenium City, where the Champions hang out, but I've never touched on Dr. Destroyer obliterating Detroit. It's just assumed that Millenium City is Detroit's "superhero name," like Bay City is San Francisco's.[/quote']

 

I moved Millennium City to the site of Haynesville, Kansas, after altering a couple of details of Haynesville's history to allow for the growth of a large city there. The destruction and rebuilding of the city otherwise proceeded much as it did in the official CU. After that it was just a matter of changing some of the Detroit-specific place names. I like the idea of a metropolis near the center of the contiguous United States, and it made sense to me that Dr. Destroyer would choose a spot like that for his asteroid-impact scheme. (Of course, I might have been subconsciously affected by Smallville. ) And frankly, I've never been comfortable with remaking real-world cities into fictional ones.

 

Upon reflection, though, given what's been happening to Detroit in the real world in recent years, levelling it and starting over is starting to sound more appealing.

[Yansuf]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

All of the campaigns that I have GM'd were (more or less) in the Champions Universe; but I was willing to alter things as required.

The first 2 games were set in San Francisco, the third was in San Diego, and the last was in Earl City, a fictional metropolis set where the real Crescent City is in Northern CA. (Crescent City is MUCH smaller than Earl City.)

In all cases I did use Champions Universe Villains.

[hooligan x]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

My re-occuring campaign is homegrown, primarily based in NYC, however I have quite often filed the serial numbers off CU characters. I am running my first proper CU game this year at GenCon.

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

MY own universe , no multiverse organically grown over more than 2 decades pf playing. It got a completely different take on Supers and isn't even set on earth with basically steampunk tech combined with alien tech matured to quasi near future time. So no fitting at all a separate reality.

[DocMan]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

Well, it's not MY universe, it is Klytus', since he is the GM. But it is pretty much a parallel world to the Champions Universe as published. Pretty much major events are the same, but the names and the players have changed.

 

Of course, our PCs have left our mark on Klytus' universe when we have come up with particularly good or influential ideas.

 

Doc

[Kenn]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

An original universe grown by and shared between myself and (over the course of two decades) half a dozen other game masters. Occasionally, something from the CU would slip in, but I've also usually tried to isolate and excise them.

 

As the original GM in the universe (and the one person who has kept running), I get to be the senior GM.

[assault]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

I use my own universes. Note the plural - I don't have a single consistent setting. I have a butterfly attention span, and my games have never lasted long enough for me to develop a setting "organically".

[AnotherSkip]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

Definitely my own.

 

after decades of growing it in comics and artwork it finally is getting some real use. However it isn't the real Universe with myself and my kids in it, the one I'm running is an outgrowth to let the players do something and have an influence. Otherwise I'd drive e'm crazy(ier)

[Pariah]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

I generally use my own universe(s), with elements borrowed liberally from other sources. These 'other sources' include the Champions Universe, universes created or modified by previous GMs, and published comics universes (DC, Marvel, Astro City, etc.). I also throw in numerous thinly-veiled pop culture references, sometimes as hints to the players, sometimes as red herrings.

 

Basically, I just try to use any elements I can find at hand to make an enjoyable game.

[bubba smith]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

I generally use my own universe(s), with elements borrowed liberally from other sources. These 'other sources' include the Champions Universe, universes created or modified by previous GMs, and published comics universes (DC, Marvel, Astro City, etc.). I also throw in numerous thinly-veiled pop culture references, sometimes as hints to the players, sometimes as red herrings.

 

Basically, I just try to use any elements I can find at hand to make an enjoyable game.

sounds reasonable

kenn what do you mean by isolate and exscise? make the character[not the player]feel unwelcome in his super team?

[OddHat]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

I use my own setting, inspired by all sorts of things. Mostly I draw on the Wold Newton Universe, plus LoEG, classic DC and Marvel (with many changes), TV, Movies, favorite books, and anything else that fits.

 

The core idea is that writers are reporters, not creators; anything in Fantastic Fiction was inspired by real events. The reports may be wildly exagerated, often people lie, but there's at least a kernel of truth to every story.

 

It's a lot of fun once you start going with it.

 

Here's my Timeline:

http://surbrook.devermore.net/herosource/wold_newton.html

[pruttm]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

I have these:

 

My decade long game is a mashup of my own stuff in the main plots and CU stuff in the side plots and some short adventures.

 

I started running another game a few weeks ago and it is set squarely in the CU. I did this because it is a weekly game and I have a shelf bursting with Hero stuff I have never used. I hope to go A-Z through the stuff and find something to make a story from. The game is for 9-11 year olds.

 

Lastly, I am working on my CROSS: Agents of the Vatican source book which I will run online next year. This is completely unique material but it could easily be added to the CU if someone wanted to.

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

Nine times out of ten, I create my own universe. Of course, there are often homages to other sources, but I never import anything directly without filing off the serial numbers and switching out some parts. Other times, I will run a game in an established setting (usually DC or Marvel comics or the CU), but always with my own twist. Such as when I ran the Justce League game set in the Batman Beyond continuity (which I started befor they JLU showed up in that show). My current campaign is definitly my own creation,along with that of my players. I'm currently running a mini-campaign set in the Victorian age. The PCs are Victorian-age superheroes, and help to create the background which will be used for later characters. After this we will move to the Pulp age (1920s), the Golden Age ('40s), Silver Age ('60s), Bronze Age ('80s), and finally the ongoing campaign in the Modern Age.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

I create my own worlds, but do use many elements of the CU - Viper, Destroyer, and others. I also use elements from SAS, Gurps Supers, the Freedom City Universe, and other superhero RPGS. All mixed together with my own creations and out comes my world.

[Kenn]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

sounds reasonable

kenn what do you mean by isolate and exscise? make the character[not the player]feel unwelcome in his super team?

 

Since the elements in question are essentially super villains, characters GMs pulled from some book or another... it essentially is an exercise in not referring to those characters again. And then letting human memory and player attrition play out.

 

For instance, I remember an early adventure I ran introducing the RC Universe's "fastest man alive". I used the Destroyers out of Enemies (or Enemies II). This was 21 years ago, 1988. I know I did it. Neil gave up playing Turbo in 1998 or 1999. Jim, though, took over playing Turbo, with Neil's blessing. Around 2003, Neil stopped gaming with us, though in 2008 he came back.

 

Jim wasn't playing yet in 1988. He has no recollection of the case. Neil may or may not remember it. But because I've never used the Destroyers since, nor referred to that case except in the most oblique fashion, the fact that it was the Destroyers has become a non-issue. Once upon a time, I suppose, the Destroyers were in the RCU. They are not considered to be a part of it now.

[HawksmoorSD]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

My current campaign I stole from the boards here. I'm running an Avengers Legacy game set up somewhat like the one that's being played by Teh Bunny and his crew. I don't think I've ever used the CU as a setting and I don't like how overpowered some of the villains are. However it is a rich and diverse line and I'm more tempted to use it now more than ever.

[lemming]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

Currently not running, but the past campaign was mostly my own with parts stolen with the serial numbers filed off.

[Yansuf]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

... CU as a setting and I don't like how overpowered some of the villains are. ....

 

What power level is your campaign based on?

[Tasha]

Re: Champion's Universe or your own

 

I have used the CU in the past, it's an easy thing to run if you are in a hurry.

 

I actually like the Champions New Millennium Universe more than the core 5th ed CU

 

Currently I am planning to run something that has some elements from CNM, but is really something Different.

 

The PCs will be Heroes from the Victorian era - WWII. They were all kidnapped by people unknown (Campaign background mystery). They were discovered during construction of a new building in a small town in Germany. There was another chamber found that was found with empty hybernation capsules that resemble the PC's and evidence that the PC's nemesis had been imprisoned in those capsules.

 

That's pretty much were I am with that game. It's the one that I am going to run to figure out 6e Hero when it ships.

 

Tasha