Best/Worst Characters?

[Chuckem]

I would like to know what all of you great Champions gurus would consider your best and worst characters are. As I have stated before I am not well experienced with the game. I played 4e a bit and then years later picked it up again and have now ordered the latest edition as my local gaming stores are not aware of its existence. Several of my characters turned out pretty lame but I have had a couple of good ones as well

 

My best character was a mentalist called "Migraine" whose signature attack resulted in my GM re-reading the rules and forced me to re-work the character. I no longer have the character but his attack was a ranged killing attack based on ECV--a mental killing attack which was about 5d6 and easily killed most things/ppl we encountered.

 

My absolute worst character was a character called "Moonchild" whose powers were based on the phases of the moon. He was most powerful on a full moon but was basically a skilled normal during a new moon with power fluctuations between. He was quite interesting and powerful on a full moon but was a stinker throughout the campaign.

 

Both of these were 4e so I don't know what is still relevant. I will probably rebuild these characters for you folks if I have time and can find my 4e book.

 

So what are your best and worst characters?

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Define "Best". And "Worst". I have many bests. I'd have to say the most fun to play was Stick, a blind Martial Artist. Stick's "Schtick" was his staff, a 6' pole that was his focus for superleap, missile deflection, and bonus damage hand to hand. For added fun, the staff was bamboo... it was fragile, anyone could break it, but it was so little of the characters abilities that it didn't matter. The campaign was less than serious, and led to such interesting things as Stick asking...

"Which button do I press?"

"The red one."

"Which one?"

"The red one!"

"Which button?"

"THE RED ONE!!!!"

"The blind man wants to know which button is the red one."

 

For worst character... I've been playing the game since 1st edition, and some character designs were pathetic. One that lasted a while was Major Maple Leaf, a power-suit wearing Canadian. His power suit was a elemental control with EB, FF, and Flight, all run off a Endurance Battery that recovered 1 end a segment, but only had enough power to shoot the EB four times... less if the force field was up. Or he was flying. He would typically fly in, blast away 2 times, then hide waiting for the end batt to recharge.

[Lucius]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Define "Best". And "Worst". I have many bests. I'd have to say the most fun to play was Stick, a blind Martial Artist. Stick's "Schtick" was his staff, a 6' pole that was his focus for superleap, missile deflection, and bonus damage hand to hand. For added fun, the staff was bamboo... it was fragile, anyone could break it, but it was so little of the characters abilities that it didn't matter. The campaign was less than serious, and led to such interesting things as Stick asking...

"Which button do I press?"

"The red one."

"Which one?"

"The red one!"

"Which button?"

"THE RED ONE!!!!"

"The blind man wants to know which button is the red one."

 

For worst character... I've been playing the game since 1st edition, and some character designs were pathetic. One that lasted a while was Major Maple Leaf, a power-suit wearing Canadian. His power suit was a elemental control with EB, FF, and Flight, all run off a Endurance Battery that recovered 1 end a segment, but only had enough power to shoot the EB four times... less if the force field was up. Or he was flying. He would typically fly in, blast away 2 times, then hide waiting for the end batt to recharge.

 

You should post that in Quote of the Week from my Gaming Group.

 

 

For example characters, look for the posters Susano and Killer Shrike - their posts will have links to their websites, which are loaded with examples.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

House of the Palindromedary

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

You should post that in Quote of the Week from my Gaming Group.

 

I already have. You'll have to search for it, though, it's pretty burried.

[Nuclear Fridge]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Not one of mine, but "Red Rapier" from one of the old Enemies books popped into my head. A stuntman and Errol Flynn movie buff with a hate-on for supers, he takes damage from criticism.

 

...That's right. He has Susceptibility to criticism.

He'd last less than 12 segments against some of my players.

 

As for 'lame and useless', a Z-list villain I've worked up for a streets-level campaign is Master Mind. He has Mind Control... with 0 DCV Concentration and Limited Range. And as with most mentalists, he has the physical durability of tissue paper.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Hmm. I always let someone else build my characters until I got the hang of the system, so I never had any true clunkers that I can recall.

 

I've seen a few, though. I recall ...

... someone with a No Range Killing Attack Explosion with neither Personal Immunity and very limited resistant defenses. I think he killed himself with it on an (un)luckily high damage roll.

... a vertically-challenged telepath who was continually dubbed 'The Mental Midget', much to his chagrin.

... a female speedster named 'Quickie' (the player had NO IDEA what that meant, which just made it funnier).

... a character who had spent every single point through the Focus limitation; stats, powers, skills, everything, most of them through different Foci. I think he had about twenty.

... a character with Accidental Change into a bird (falcon? Hawk? Can't rememeber) when restrained, but without having an alternate form purchased. In an act of GM douchebaggery, I ruled this meant he turned into a completely ordinary bird, both physically and mentally. So, he got restrained, turned into a bird, flew away in a panic ... then turned back while still flying. Did I mention his 'standard' form had no Flight or Gliding?

... a character who was a cop who gained stretching powers while doing a bust in a chemical warehouse. He had good skills, a great motivation to be a superhero, a decent costume, good personality ... and then wanted to name himself 'Captain Condom'. So near, and yet, so far (we eventually compromised on 'Longarm', which fit his powers and his occupation).

[lapsedgamer]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Hmm. I always let someone else build my characters until I got the hang of the system, so I never had any true clunkers that I can recall.

 

... a character who was a cop who gained stretching powers while doing a bust in a chemical warehouse. He had good skills, a great motivation to be a superhero, a decent costume, good personality ... and then wanted to name himself 'Captain Condom'. So near, and yet, so far (we eventually compromised on 'Longarm', which fit his powers and his occupation).

 

Which is actually a good character concept, as you said. I wonder if the player was actually into supers. I have rule now. Don't play supers games with people who just don't get the genre. They will invariably either attempt to subvert the game or tun everything into high camp because they think all superhero fiction is "stupid" or "juvenile." These same people usually can't wait to play a 20th level fighter/magic user/vampire, and yet they can never see the disconnect in their thinking. I know that a lot of stuff in supers games makes very little sense. I just say don't pee on everyone's fun if they are into the genre. Hey, if I sit down at the table with you to play Monty Haul dungeon delvers, I bought in, and I'm not going to point out how little sense the ecosystem makes. I just can't see slamming costumed heroes, but being completely serious about hobbits and orcs. All of this stuff is meant to be fantastic, literally. You should never mock another person's favorite genre until you've taken a second to look at the faults of your own.

[Lucius]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

The most POPULAR character I ever posted here was Foxbatmite.

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/72129-Foxbatmite?highlight=Foxbatmite

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says we won't forget THAT one in a hurry

[Old Man]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

My worst character was a power armor superhero whose main power was a damage shield that was triggered by being hit. Unfortunately, the way I built it, the damage shield only went on after he was hit, and since it was part of a multipower, it would take all the points away from any other powers he was using. I think I played through one session and then went and learned the damn rules.

 

My best character was Batty, a martial artist leech (and a vague sendup of Batman). Martial arts and drains/transfers are a pretty good combination but the real reason I liked playing him was because he was pretty unhinged. Sometimes I would use that to advance the plot and other times I would... just make things interesting.

 

My best worst character was Crisis_9, who was basically a walking 80-point magic pool. I couldn't believe the GM let me play that. Anyway I had five pages of powers written up so that I wouldn't have to do the math on the fly, and he was just way too powerful for the campaign. The overall concept was that he was a hacker kid who'd downloaded a spellbook off a poorly secured DEMON server, so he was a punk kid with a distrust of authority as well. Imagine the disaster that that could cause, and know that it turned out worse than that.

[Blue]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Yeh, "Best" and "Most Effective" definitely would not be the same thing for me. Uncle Slam may be my most effective, but there's something fun about doing more with less, as I have to do with Anthem, who is basically a low-level martial artist with a high ability to take punishment. In the early days, she got punched through a wall by Ogre, then when he turned around, satisfied he'd won, she leaped back through the hole and landed on his head like a spider-monkey, obscuring his vision and boxing his ears. That fight took forever to resolve because she couldn't deal enough damage in those days and often bricks couldn't hurt her much. I think she won that one by riding him off of a sky-scraper and using him to cushion her fall.

 

Worst was still kind of funny, if totally ineffective. Dead Ringer had a sonic attack that happened whenever he laughed, like it or not. And he liked to laugh. So he was constantly taking out whatever was in front of him. He spent a lot of time in a padded lockup.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Which is actually a good character concept' date=' as you said. I wonder if the player was actually into supers. [/quote']

 

Considering that he approached me and asked to join my ongoing Champions game, I would assume yes. He was pretty young (13, 14?) at the time, though, so that sort of juvenile humor is hardly unexpected. He also played very well once he actually joined the game ... the bad name choice was the only hiccup. Heck, he never once made a reference to the Power Perversion Potential of stretching during the game.

[Steve]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

The best character I ever saw was made by a friend of mine, Mighty Mite. His powers were based on Shrinking and Density Increase linked together. His small size made him extemely difficult to hit and a 30+ Recovery made him hard to put down for the count.

 

That and he would charge into combat singing the Mighty Mouse "Here I come to save the dayyyyy!!!!" phrase.

[TheTemplar]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Hmm... Best Character in terms of favoritism would have to be my speedster, The Tornado!. Though he's not by any means the most original. My best in terms of originality would be Frostbite, an ice-based EP who I spent a lot of time developing a compelling story around and has never seen the top of a table. I created him and Tornado! at the same time & the team was, at that point, a brick, a MA & 3 EPs.

 

Worst... toss up. My least effective (though extremely fun!) was Titan, a growth brick in a teen supers game who gained his powers for a limited amt of time by using a special serum he created, but that had adverse effects on him if exposed for prolonged periods of time (in other words, if he had to use it on Monday & Tuesday, he better home Wednesday was crime free.) In our one adventure where he had to "fake it" with his foam-stuffed suit he got punked pretty hard by the opposing team brick. Still a very very fun character with upsides far exceeding his glaring downfall. I'd also loop The Templar, my namesake, into the "worst" category. Horribly unoriginal character & he was the first Champions character I ever made (this was back in 4th ed.) I had NO idea what I was doing, struggled with everything from genre to concept to build & in the end I got a pretty 2-dimensional character who just ended up being not a lot of fun to play. Learned a helluva lot though.

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

The best character I ever saw was made by a friend of mine, Mighty Mite. His powers were based on Shrinking and Density Increase linked together. His small size made him extemely difficult to hit and a 30+ Recovery made him hard to put down for the count.

 

That and he would charge into combat singing the Mighty Mouse "Here I come to save the dayyyyy!!!!" phrase.

 

Sound like "Collapsar, the tiny titan" who had density linked to shrinking at a 3-1 ratio, keeping his mass the same. 4" tall, 100kgs...

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Thinking about it, I've one character concept that sounds absolutely horrible and juvenile, the more I roll it over in my head. I've never had the chance to play a stretchy-type character, but the whole mutant or exposed-to-chemicals source for the powers is kind of overdone, and I love playing artificial/created characters anyway. So I find myself thinking, 'Okay, so it's something like a rubber golem. Why would someone make such a thing?'

 

Then it's 'Brain, meet Gutter. Gutter, say Hi to my brain.'

[Chuckem]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Rubber Golem is not a bad idea. Actually it sounds quite formidable as rubber can pack quite the punch. Imagine being hit full on by a car tire...

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Rubber Golem is not a bad idea. Actually it sounds quite formidable as rubber can pack quite the punch. Imagine being hit full on by a car tire...

 

I can't imagine....

 

[Chuckem]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Had an idea for a morphing character who was basically a big pile of goo. A gelatinous slime that couls shapeshift, duplicate, go desolid, and take on *all* the properties of what he turned into on a slightly weaker state. I never figured out how to build him with 250 points... or even 375 points. Then I thought it was a retarded idea.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Rubber Golem is not a bad idea. Actually it sounds quite formidable as rubber can pack quite the punch. Imagine being hit full on by a car tire...

 

Yes, but something like metal or stone would probably work better, unless there were ... secondary considerations. Which is where my brain guttering comes into play. And even without that, you just know the jokes are gonna fly ...

[Christopher]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

'Okay' date=' so it's something like a rubber golem. Why would someone make such a thing?'[/quote']

Why would somebody make Mechanon? Why do Mad Scientists make anything at all, preferebly things that kick their buts and then run away?

In D&D there was a Calzone Golem, so as long as you see the need for one, why not make it (and a high resistence vs. Blunt Weapons can come in handy agaisnt the right foe, Rubber is an insulator so try to hit him Captain Megavolt,...).

 

Had an idea for a morphing character who was basically a big pile of goo. A gelatinous slime that couls shapeshift' date=' duplicate, go desolid, and take on *all* the properties of what he turned into on a slightly weaker state. I never figured out how to build him with 250 points... or even 375 points. Then I thought it was a retarded idea.[/quote']

Mimiking VPP in 6E would be worth a look, it's even part of the Example VPP's in 6E1.

[dmjalund]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

Why would somebody make Mechanon? Why do Mad Scientists make anything at all' date=' preferebly things that kick their buts and then run away?.[/quote']Masocists with a God complex?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

I could answer the 'why did someone make Mechanon' question, as I do own Book of the Machine, but I sense I'd be slapped down hard for spoilers.

[Christopher]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

I could answer the 'why did someone make Mechanon' question' date=' as I do own Book of the Machine, but I sense I'd be slapped down hard for spoilers.[/quote']

It was more of a rehtoric question. I simply meant: If you can think of an artificially created character, there is going to be one mad scientist who made him.

I currently adapt an clearly-not human alien for Herocentral Game without Aliens. He and his equipment are results of a Mad Scientist (better scientist than Dr. D and Telios, but less dangerous than Foxbat). He falls into the usual "Prototype for a World Domination Army that got free" trope of origins.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

All my worst characters were from my first attempts at the game....among them...the Wolferine...and Blue Bomber. Ugh....

[Enforcer84]

Re: Best/Worst Characters?

 

My brother once made a secret agent, who was an anthropomorphic cat, with psychic claws. I think is code name was Mr. Snickers.

My brother was 11 at the time.

I still can't decide if Mr. Snickers was awful or awesome.