CrosshairCollie

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play Like most things, it amounts to 'only give an iffy build to a player who you know will not abuse it'. This is an issue with Vixen (13 power sets, two of which overlap with other PCs), though I've corralled it by making sure everybody takes part in plans, and giving her overlapping powersets the ability to boost the other guys' powers. So when we need a big lightning bolt, I help Dynamo make it instead of making it myself.

Re: This is sort of morbid curiosity but... I've never played it. I looked over the new DC Adventures game (which, as I understand it, uses something close to the M&M engine), and thought to myself ... wow, this may be more complicated than Champions. Do Not Want.

Re: Starting points

Re: Psionic/Dark jedi character I know you have it as a -0, but how is 'only vs objects touching the blade' a limitation?

Re: Starting points How many points a comics character is built on is largely an intellectual exercise; Batman's been built on everything from 250 to 1000. What would matter is how many points Batman is built on in your campaign world (if he exists there in the first place). That said, I do the standard 5e 350 point characters, though with fewer points of Disads.

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play I'd let you play something like Ben 10, certainly, Bloodstone, though I'd require the forms to be within campaign maxima.

Re: Creation Ex Nihilo It depends on what you're doing with them. If it's just 'here's some stuff', yeah. If you're trying to, say, create hydrogen near a flame to make a small explosion to burn someone, you'd need an actual attack power.

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play 'One Power' in game terms and 'one power' in character terms are two completely different things. Cyclops has 'one power'. Hell, The Flash has 'one power', but few people are going to say he's boring or can't participate in combat. Someone with wings could be a great movethrough/moveby machine, wing buffetting, gusts of wind from flapping ... and he'd still, in character, have 'one power'.

Re: Uncanny Valley Easily concealable, since all they really have to do is not be seen. 'Creepy Face Unblinking Android' can just throw on a pair of Foster Grants. 'Not Breathing Vampire' can just put on a sweatshirt or jacket so you couldn't tell if his chest was rising or falling. I suppose it would matter on the exact nature of their unnatural activities, though.

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play Cyclops is considered a one-trick pony because all he has is a blast. He can't fly, or manipulate the energy to make shapes or somesuch. Yes, he has lots of variants on the blast, but all he does is blast. This is pretty much the definition of the one-trick pony archetype as given in the Ultimate Energy Projector. I think the X-uniforms are lightly armored, plus give him something like 10 or 15 PD/ED Armor combat-luck style, and there you go.

Re: Uncanny Valley I'd think it'd just be a Distinctive Feature. 'Some people more creeped out than others' would probably depend on the observer's PRE, the observed's PRE, Psych Lims, and general RP.

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play My second or third PC was very much an homage to Machine Man, including the Pinocchio complex along with the telescopic limbs.

A random thought to spark discussion. What are common things you see in superhero comics that you've never (or almost never) seen in play in your Champions games? Primarily on the PC side, though missing villain concepts is fine too. 1. Telepaths who are not also telekinetics. They're fairly common in comics (Prof. X and Psylocke probably being the most prominent), but I've never seen a telepath without a TK shield and flight. Related ... 2. Energy projectors who don't fly and/or have forcefields. I don't ever recall seeing a grounded energy projector in any games I've been in for the last 20 years or so. No Havok or Cyclops, always Green Lantern or Human Torch ... 3. Stretchy characters. I've only seen one.

Re: Ways to manage a huge team with a lot of characters? 1. Odds are, someone in the group realizes that a team of 32 characters on the battlefield would be virtually impossible to organize. It'd just be a jumbled mess, people would be tripping all over each other. The bylaws of the organization could dictate that the group form more manageable, say, four to six man strike teams (aka 'the number of players') when going on missions, drawn from the available personnel. For really big events like natural disasters, just focus the action on one team while having the rest working in the background. 2. Unlike falling behind in level-based games, missing out on a few XP here and there in Champions isn't a critical thing, though you still don't want them to fall too far behind. Perhaps award half XP (round down) to 'idle' characters? 3. Nothing springs to mind ...

Re: Psionic/Dark jedi character That's what I said. That's a Distinctive Feature.

Re: Psionic/Dark jedi character Well, the Force is just psionic powers, so the whole 'corrupting' thing is just the natural tendency for people with power to misuse it. Everybody would get that temptation, so there's no reason to render it mechanically. Invisible while moving? Sure, why not? Good at leaping? Sure, why not? Slowing down someone's body and mind? Sounds like a DEX and/or EGO and/or SPD drain. As far as it being a playable PC, we can't know the answer to that without knowing the campaign guidelines, how many points he's built on, average attacks and defenses, and so forth. Well, he should definitely have a lightsaber. A backup blaster wouldn't be a bad idea. A general utility belt with things like a grappling hook, underwater breathing mask, communicator and the such would make sense too. Based off the description: Decent STR ('muscular'), improved vision ('third eye'), small HKA (claws and fangs).

Re: Would you buy... Because sometimes you need a break from serious plot after serious plot and drama drama drama. He's great comedy relief. Of course, a lot of this has to do with the kind of games you like. I'm only fleetingly familiar with the Bourne Identity, but I'd be unlikely to fit in well with a game like that because I am just not that serious a person. Our Champs games lean towards more Silver/Bronze age plots than Iron/Dark/Rust Age stuff. We don't like our games too dark and serious.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... The line that sums up why I love Warlords in D&D: Minotaur's player had commented on trying to get to a particular target, but there were complications, including an enemy hitting him with a power that took away his standard (basically, attack) action. Me (to Minotaur player): "You want to charge that guy?" Jeff: "He can't take a standard action on his turn ..." (due to enemy effect) Me: "No, but I can let him take a standard action on my turn."

Re: So, all the super-prisons broke ... Nothing much. We have a limited flame projector, a telepath, a shadow/darkness manipulator, and a speedster. None of them have any particular technical expertise.

Re: Chaos No, that sounds pretty much exactly like what they want to do. There are lots of ways to do luck powers. Could be as simple as giving him extra defenses and DCV levels on an activation roll.

Re: Chaos The Lords are mentioned several times in 5e's mystic books (Arcane Adversaries, DEMON, The Mystic World). They are ... well, completely alien C'thulhu-y extradimensional monsters.

Re: Chaos Sounds like the Lords of Edom ... your basic sanity- and reality-warping extradimensional C'thulhu monsters.

Re: So, all the super-prisons broke ... Part of the reason I want to bust stuff wide open is so that I can start over; I've forgotten who the PCs have put away and who's escaped, so I need a reset button. And, yeah, I'm considering restructuring things for having multiple smaller facilities scattered nationwide as opposed to gathering all the supervillains in one place so they can conspire and such. The Constitutionality, benefits, and necessity of Hot Sleep is something that I intend to come up, though I'm not sure if I can really make much of a compelling story arc out of court cases and legal debate (none of the PCs are lawyers or politicians and such matters have never really interested my players). I should probably specify that the prisons breaking open will look like a natural disaster of some sort, as opposed to a standard break in/breakout. Something like an earthquake or tornado crashing the whole facility. Not all the villains in the prisons are going to escape unscathed, of course ... also a good way to write out some people.

Re: So, all the super-prisons broke ... Either way, that could get ugly ... which means it could be interesting. I'd been wanting to expand the game to more international goings-on, anyway, so creating some upheaval in a third world could be an intriguing affair. Maybe give me an excuse to use the Warlord ...

Re: Would a spell of Growth cause your equipment to grow too? I assume equipment is affected, but unless you include some kind of linked Aid or +xd6 HKA modifier, the weapons don't become any more effective. A larger sword would have a thicker blade, which wouldn't cut as well, for instance.