Team

[L.Craig]

What are the basic archetypes you need for a super team in your opinion?

[Greywind]

In order to have a team, you need to have more than one person. Archetypes don't really matter.

[Tasha]

Brick, Energy Projector, Martial Artist. Everything else is just gravy. Having at least those 3 Archetypes you can deal with just about every situation.

[stardogchamp]

Brick, Energy Projector, Martial Artist. Everything else is just gravy. Having at least those 3 Archetypes you can deal with just about every situation.

Yes, and also, I would add Mentalist and Utility Guy (teleporter, gadgeteer, etc)

[Christougher]

Tasha mentioned the most common ones, but I tend more towards Greywind's opinion.  All you need for a team is multiple members.

 

I remember from City of Heroes that there was never a /need/ for any particular archetype.  Missions or quests could be completed leaving out any of them, or even playing with all of them the same type.  Tactics and strategies had to adapt based on composition, but that I think is something more games (not just MMOs) ought to be able to handle.

 

Chris.

[Tasha]

OF course in CoH things were MUCH easier if you had a Tanker and a Defender in the party. CoH reality has nothing to do with Champions Combat.


Yes, you can muddle buy with any random mix of character types. IMHO all you really need is the three that I mentioned. Additional archetypes will make things easier, but aren't strictly needed.

[Cassandra]

A team in the public eye (Avengers, Justice League) could have a mix of any types of heroes.  

 

A team operating covertly (like the X-Men, the Outsiders) needs a leader to organize the various members.  The leader must have either mental powers, wealth, and/or technological resources.

 

Team Examples

 

The Avengers (Movie Version)

 

Patriot (Captain America), Powered Armor (Iron Man), Brick/Energy Projector (Thor), Brick (Hulk), Martial Artist/Spy (Black Widow), Weapons Master (Hawkeye)

 

 

Justice League (Original Team)

 

Brick/Energy Projector (Superman), Brick/Mentalist (Wonder Woman), Weapons Master (Batman), Speedster (Flash), Brick/Mentalist** (Aquaman), Gadgeteer* (Green Lantern), Metamorph/Brick/Mentalist (Martian Manhunter).

 

*I consider a Gadgeteer as a hero who uses either one or a number of gadgets to simulate a number of powers.

 

**Only with Marine Life.

[assault]

In a lot of cases, you can swap out martial artist for speedster.

 

At a pinch, you can combine mentalist, energy projector and "utility guy/gal". Green Lantern is (or can be) an example of this.

 

Other combinations:

martial artist/energy projector - shades into weapons master. Examples: Green Arrow, Hawkeye, Black Widow.

brick/energy projector - lots of examples.

martial artist/utility guy - see Batman.

 

A mentalist is very handy, but can also be a scenario breaker. I would suggest talking to your GM before creating such a character.

 

Whatever you do, make sure your team has a reasonable mix of skills. You may not be able to cover everything, but a decent range is good.

 

I like having a character with a gadget pool around, but I'm less keen on playing them myself.

[Cassandra]

Let's examine the X-Men.

 

Professor X - Mentalist, with the transportation (X-Jet), and acts as leader and medic.

 

Cyclops - Energy Projector who is the tactical leader, and pilot.

 

Beast - Brick/Speedster mix with science background.

 

Iceman - Energy Projector

 

Angel - Flying Martial Artist with Money, Social, and Business connections.

 

Marvel Girl - Telepath/Telekinesis 

[IndianaJoe3]

I don't think there's any requirement for a super team to have a particular mix of archetypes. You could always consult the list of Ensemble Tropes if you need inspiration.

[Tasha]

I am talking from more of a Gameplay Metagame perspective than from a Story telling RP viewpoint.

[assault]

The players will provide the personality/group dynamic aspects in a PC team.

 

For NPC groups, however, such relationships are as important as the game mechanical archetypes. You can often derive the latter from the former, if you want.

 

The Fantastic Four is the best example of an intentional match between personalities and powers.

[steriaca]

Basically a team is whatever the number of people say they are. Let's look at the Sailor Senshi.

 

Sailor Moon: Energy blaster(love/metal)/healer/leader.

Sailor Mercury: Energy blaster (water/ice)/information scanner.

Sailor Mars: Energy blaster/mystic (shinto).

Sailor Jupiter: Energy blaster (lighting/wood)/martial artist.

Sailor Venus: Energy blaster (metal)/sub-leader.

Sailor Pluto: Weapon master (staff)/Energy blaster (time)/information broker.

Sailor Neptune: Energy blaster (water).

Sailor Uranus: Weapon master (sword)/Energy blaster (air).

Sailor Saturn: Weapon master (pike)/Energy blaster (death energy)/healer(when not transformed).

Tuxedo Mask: Martial artist/Weapon master (cane/sword)/psychic/Energy blaster (roses/earth).

Sailor Chibi-Moon: Mascot/Energy blaster (love).

Luna, Artimus, Diana, Phobos, and Demous: Mascots/information broker. Artimus also dabbles in weapon mastery also (sword).

 

Basically a group full of energy blasters. Of course media is different than game needs. Your milage may vary.

[Epiphanis]

In game terms, Champions archetypes don't really correspond to classes, its more a question of builds. You generally need:

 

A build that is highly resistant to physical damage that is effective at close combat;

A build that is versatile, usually with a large VPP, to exploit various weaknesses;

A build that is prioritized for ranged physical/energy attacks;

A build that makes unusual attacks (defended by mental defense, power defense, or no defense);

A support build that can heal, buff, and/or debuff.

 

Usually this comes out to (Brick or Martial Artist) + ( Gadgeteer or Mystic) + (Energy Projector or ranged Weaponmaster) + (Mentalist or Mystic) + ( Gadgeteer, Mystic, or Mentalist).

[assault]

Healing generally isn't required in superhero games. Perhaps in the more lethal ones, but generally not.

 

The one healing character that I've seen created for a superhero game was dropped before it started, after I pointed out that there was a hospital down the road, and the character would be more useful there than running around in spandex.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Distilled down to the truest basics...

 

Primary types: Brains, Brawn, Speed.

 

Supplementary types: Range, Defense, Stealth.

[Enforcer84]

Damage, Damage, Damage, Damage, Rich Guy to pay for cleanup.

[Christopher]

I think more important then required teammembers is having not to many in the same arechtype. Few things are a boring as having the same shtick as somebody else.

A team of 5 Energy Projectors will mean that peoples only way to shine are secondary powers and maybe presentation.

 

That being said. the team should have a Ersatz Brick at least and at least someone in the ranged combat department, otherwise the team might have trouble with certain situations.

Ulitarian powers like Telekinesis are not to be underestimated either.

 

Having a wide mix of power sources/sfx can also help with having story hooks. If one is a technoguy, one mistic in origin and the next powered by emotion there is certainly some material to draw upon.

[Cancer]

I would say you have to have a Brick, but everything else is optional, as long as it's a mix. Without a Brick to interpose herself, your squishies will get squished, unless they are all bat-outta-hell fast.

[lemming]

For a period of time, one of Sam Bell's games.  We had six Bricks and one Martial Artist for a team.   It worked well in that we were a pretty diverse group of bricks.

[bigbywolfe]

I would say you have to have a Brick, but everything else is optional, as long as it's a mix. Without a Brick to interpose herself, your squishies will get squished, unless they are all bat-outta-hell fast.

I would argue that the original X-Men did not have a Brick, despite the tendency some have to call Beast a Brick/Speedster combo.  He did not have the ability to soak major damage and his super strength was in the "outperform an Olympic athlete" level, not what would generally be considered "Brick".

[Tasha]

I would argue that the original X-Men did not have a Brick, despite the tendency some have to call Beast a Brick/Speedster combo.  He did not have the ability to soak major damage and his super strength was in the "outperform an Olympic athlete" level, not what would generally be considered "Brick".

You are talking Apples to Oranges when you cite comic books. In Comics you can have any stupid mix that you can think of. Because you have a Writer that will always make your team work. In a RPG there are big advantages for going with a proper mix of characters. Sometimes you have to go with the realities of the Game and allow it to trump what you consider to be correct or allowable for the genre.

[assault]

Iceman was the original X-Men with the best ability to soak up damage, although he wasn't marvelous at it. He had enhanced movement abilities too.

 

If he had relied on strength, rather than a ranged attack, he would have been the team brick.

 

Marvel Girl could to the force wall thing to an extent.