Dr. MID-Nite

Hmm.....those are intended to be wrestling moves, but I didn't specify. My fault. Even if he doesn't have any formal training, my take was that over the years he's learned how to throw his (considerable) weight around. Rob

Generally, I just look at what kind of powers and abilities my players have and balance accordingly. I have a large group(6 players) so I'd rather err on the side of too much power than too little. With players, they tend to pull stuff out of thin air, so even if you're villains are tougher than you had intended, the heroes can usually still win. For a single vilain, he has to be tough enough to take about a turn of abuse generally. Plus an attack than can harm all or at least most of the players. A group can be made of weaker members, but they still need to be able to take a couple phases of abuse. Beyond that, you need to analyze your players characters a bit to adjust encounters appropriately. Rob

This is a 5th Edition version of Marvel's Blob character. This was intended as a playable version...so he may be more or less powerful than you may think he should be. Opinions welcome. The Blob Player: NPC Val Char Cost 40 STR 30 14 DEX 12 30 CON 40 20 BODY 20 10 INT 0 10 EGO 0 20 PRE 10 8 COM -1 30 PD 22 30 ED 24 4 SPD 16 14 REC 0 60 END 0 55 STUN 0 5" RUN -2 1" SWIM -1 3" LEAP -5 Characteristics Cost: 165 Cost Power 23 My Hands...They're Stuck In His Rolls Of Fat!: Clinging (90 STR), Damage Shield (+1/2) (40 Active Points); Limited Power ( Cannot Use Standard Clinging Movement, Can Use Only To Remain Clung To The Ground Or Hold Opponents; -1/2), Cannot Resist Knockback (-1/4) 24 Nothing Moves The Blob Unless He Wants To Be Moved: Knockback Resistance -15" (30 Active Points); Limited Power (Must Be In Contact With Ground Or Similiar Flat Surface; -1/4) 4 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -2" 30 Nothing Hurts The Blob!: Damage Resistance (30 PD / 30 ED) 30 Mutant Resilience: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% 30 Mutant Resilience: Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% 5 Fat Covers All His Pressure Points: Lack Of Weakness (-5) for Normal Defense Powers Cost: 146 Cost Martial Arts Maneuver 4 Martial Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +15 STR vs. Grabs 3 Martial Grab: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, +10 STR for holding on 4 Martial Strike: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, STR +2d6 Strike 3 Takedown: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +1 DCV, STR Strike; Target Falls Martial Arts Cost: 14 Cost Skill 3 PS: Circus Performer 12- 3 KS: Carnival Life 12- 15 +3 with HTH Combat 4 +2 with Martial Grab Skills Cost: 25 Total Character Cost: 350 Pts. Disadvantage 5 Unluck: +1d6 5 Distinctive Features: Mutant, Not Concealable, Noticed and Recognizable, Detectable Only By Unusual Senses 10 Distinctive Features: Morbidly Obese, Not Concealable, Noticed and Recognizable, Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses, Not Distinctive In Some Cultures 20 Hunted: Anti Mutant Group, More Powerful, 8- (Occasionally), Harshly Punish, Extensive Non-Combat Influence 15 Psychological Limitation: Cruel And Bullying, Common, Strong Disadvantage Points: 55 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 95 Total Experience Available: 100 Experience Unspent: 5 Rob

Uh....pray?

Eurostar: Hmmm....it really depends a LOT on your group composition, but some general tactics might include: 1) Hit the soft targets first. Specifically, this means Scorpia. She's physically the weakest member and has a mean streak a mile wide AND a massive NND Killing Attack. Ultrasonique and Mentalla fall into this category as well. 2) Attack with sensory deprivation powers. Over half the group is vulnerable and I'd much rather have their members not able to see or hear. Durak would be my prime target for such tactics. Fiacho has Combat Sense and Ultrasonique has his Sonar....so I'd not waste this tactic on them. 3) If your team includes a Mentalist, make finding and dealing with Mentalla a top priority. With her out of the way, Eurostar is reasonably vulnerable to a mental assault. 4) If you're true blue heroes, for the love of God get the normals away from there....even if it means wasting a phase or two. You'll feel better in the morning. 5)As a general rule, keep your distance. Eurostar is brutal in close quarters. Fiacho, Durak, and Scorpia can lay down some serious hurt. Except Mentalla, Eurostar's ranged strikers aren't overwhelming. If your team has a strong ranged game, I'd say you're in pretty good shape. 6) Be efficient. Eurostar is a bunch of deadly killers. Use force sufficient to take them out of the fight. You want KOs as quickly as possible....because you can guaran-DAMN-tee they'll use hostages to try an weasel their way out of the fight the moment it turns against them. And when they say they'll kill the normal if you don't let them go, they MEAN it. You want a quick fight. A drawn out affair favors Eurostar. 7) Don't fight strength for strength. Each of Eurostar's members is pretty good at what they do. Durak, Fiacho, and Mentalla are near the top of the heap in their respective archetypes. Don't match up your Bricks, Martial Artists, and Mentalists against them....as they'll probably lose. You want to mix it up and throw them off balance. The Mentalist EGO zapping Fiacho for example is much better than your Martial Artist ineffectually trading feints and dodges with him for example. 5) Think offensively. I mentioned this above, but it bears repeating. Eurostar is full of offense. That said, they're actually not that great on defense. Their defenses are middle of the road, their STUN totals are low, and they're not loaded with exotic defenses(such as Power Defense). Your team needs to dictate the pace. Act...don't react. Letting Eurostar control the fight will result in dead heroes very....VERY...quickly. Rob

Takofanes is a toss up. The main problem is his 75% Damage Reduction. He also has most of the nonstandard defenses(mental defense,knockback resistance) at high levels. On the other hand, his PD/ED is a reasonable 25/25. I'd say definitely try to coordinate on him. Most standard attacks will do something, so it's worth a shot to have the whole team gang attack him. This would definitely be the time to apply levels to damage rather than to OCV.....as Takofanes isn't that hard to hit. Of course, his power pool will make things rough, but not much you can do about it. Overall, I think the "hit him hard and fast" approach would be more effective against Takofanes than many of the other villains in the CU. Rob

True. I'm not saying he shouldn't have it. Just responding to the post that said their players would easily shrug it off, which I found highly unlikely. Menton, as the world's most powerful psionic, SHOULD be a powerhouse. In all honesty though, Menton has absolutely no good reason to ever fight fair. He can easily avoid a head to head fight. He could defeat an entire superteam without ever seeing their faces(Mind Scan). I see this as his prefered method of "direct" confrontation. Rob

I have to agree with Gary. Have you looked at Menton's BOECV Entangle? It is seriously overpowered. Most Mentalists can't break free of it. My PCs actually fought Menton, who was unable to use his telepathic powers for the first turn(inhibitor field). He held his own with his Telekinetic powers for the first turn. As soon as his mental powers came back....game over. If the BOECV Entangle doesn't screw you, the all senses Flash will. Two of my characters had Mental Defense. Didn't matter. It's a 6 dice Entangle. Meaning....on average....EGO 30 is stuck indefinitely. Rob

Menton: Logically, he'd never face the heroes face to face. He has Mind Scan, folks, and lots of it. He'll be laying waste to the team from a mile away. And, if I remember correctly, he can use that BOECV Entangle through the Scan. Gravitar: She's beatable if you can get past her ungodly defenses. Without a mentalist though, you're in for a rough night. Martial Artists might as well stay at home too. Doc Destroyer: Attack full force. Don't give him a break. Knock him down and otherwise make him waste time. Anything to keep him from focusing one of those power blasts on you. I will say a standard team of 350pt characters has no chance against Destroyer. He does WAY too much damage. He's basically taking out a PC per phase. My old mentalist, The Living EGO, would try to confuse him with illusions, wasting his phases while the other members of the Ultimate Protectors coordinate at range to set him up for a bearhug from our 100 STR Brick....Orca!(The group consisted of Living EGO, Orca, Lightmaster, Guardian, and Ninja....all high powered heroes.) Rob

I'd probably go with Sharper myself. Campaigns usually need good villains. Your PCs cover the hero end. UNTIL exists in my campaign, but the general information on them in Champions Universe is sufficient for me to run them. If I wanted UNTIL to play a major part in upcoming game sessions....then I'd buy it. Books like UNTIL are mostly reading material. STAST is a module(giving it immediate utility)....plus it has villains(though a tad too few for my tastes. Rob

I agree as well. A King of Edom(based on some Elder Gods I attempted to adapt from Call of Cthulhu) are going to be around 1500-2000 points IMO. Rob

Many people have brought up good points. Some of my own: 1) There needs to be a clear distinction between DEMON and the Circle of the Scarlet Moon. Why are they separate? Do they oppose each other or merely ignore each other? personally, I think it's redundant for both to exist in the CU, but if they are to exist.....you need to explain why they just haven't merged together whether by mutual philosphy or force. 2) A writeup of at least one of the Kings of Edom seems almost mandatory....if only to see what we are up against. We need to learn why we fear the night. 3) In general, let's see some more character writeups. 5th Edition has been very stingy when it comes to including writeups in their supplements. 4) Keep the inner circle of Demon concept. Change the specific characters as you will, but the idea of a cabal running the show was probably the best thing about 4th edition Demon. 5) I agree with the many other posts. How do they recruit? What do they have to offer? Naked power isn't a good answer unless it's measurable. I think it's unlikely they would remain unless there was some short term rewards to being a member. I guess you could go the religious cult route. I've never understood what makes people join and then stay with them. 6) Lots and lots of plot ideas. The more....the merrier. Rob

I picked it up as well. Reasonably well done, though not as good as Shades to Black. I thought the adventure was a bit easy for standard heroes. The bad guys aren't that tough and several are encountered on their own. Gorgon may be a tough fighter, but no way she is going to stand up to 5 or 6 standard heroes for very long. And the toughest member of COIL is a potential turncoat(and he's not the only one). The ideas are good, but it'd require some modification for most "standard" level games in my opinion. The art was kind of spotty as well. Some was really good, but some wasn't so good. For example, it's mentioned in the description how impressive King Cobra looks with his hood extended and then the picture DOESN'T show it. The villains themselves seemed reasonable well built. Firedrake is questionable with the Multiform. Any player worth the name is going to blast the 3 SPD, super weak human form before he can do a thing. At the very least, they'll use a level of force appropriate to agents....which will still be sufficient to knock him out in one attack. King Cobra's main power was very nice and allows for a lot of future scenario ideas. Krait was probably the most original design in the book. I probably would have prefered more supervillain writeups(making COIL sort of a CU style Serpent Society.) Worth the purchase price though, so what more needs be said? Rob

As Teleios has Megalomania as a disadvantage....and it's stated he is interested in world conquest in his description(if only to more freely experiment), I'd definitely say he's a master villain. Besides, he opereates like one. I might also add Interface from Champions Battlegrounds to that list as well. And King Cobra will most likely fit that description too. Rob

Well, assuming Black Paladin doesn't have the perfect vessel yet, it would be a liability to kill the heroes at this time. The whole city would be out looking for him and it might be harder to acquire the perfect vessel in that case. He's generally keeping a low profile, and mostly likely would continue to do so until the vessel is in his clutches. Killing three heroes in cold blood is NOT low profile. Sure, he may be inclined to, but he's also not stupid. He's smart enough to see the big picture. Now, your question is probably what to do with the heroes in this case. Well, for starters, BP would probably remove all their foci. One idea(though somewhat sadistic) is to have him nick his prisoners with the Eater of Shadows sword and give them all 3d6 Unluck. This would help his cause in a rematch. If none of these ideas appeal to you, simply say the police get a tip and arrive on the scene. BP has just enough time to get away, but not much else. Hope this helps. Rob

Someone mentioned a "Neurokinetic". What was meant by that? A villain who can control the body processes of another person with his mind....or a villain with straight up mental powers? I'm assuming the former, but who knows. Also, what's the rough points on KC? Is he another 1000+ point character?(Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that.) I have a big group(5 players) and I just want to make sure this will be a challenge for them. Rob

The Ultimates, eh? I'll have to change that. The Ultimates got a heavy workout in my campaign and are cureently in Stronghold. My players would lynch me if I used them again. So....guess I'll have to find some mercenary substitutes. Off the record, how many baddies does KC have working for him? Rob

I generally do the same thing. Makes conversion more consistent and you don't agonize over it. STR isn't usually the hard stat. I have way more trouble with DEX. Rob

Both the original Rodan and Mothra were color productions. That I can assure you as a fact. Black and white versions of most Toho films were avaliable as Super 8mm short reels, which you to sell in places like K-mart. They were super condensed and/or portions of the films in question. I still have my 8mm version of Destroy All Monsters(which ironicially enough...sums up the film nicely in 15 minutes...including the majority of the climatic battle). The interesting thing about converting these beasts to Hero is that Godzilla is probably the easy one. King Ghidorah, Destroyer, or even Mothra are a bit more involved. Rob

Actually, it IS pronounced Ra-don in the Japanese version. Shortened version of Pteradon if I remember correctly. American distributors changed the name precisely to avoid the confusion between the monster and the element on the periodic table. LOL Rodan definitely can produce hurricane intensity winds. It's his primary method of destruction in the 1956 film(which incidently is the first japanese giant monster film in color). Plus, the speed at which he flies produces the "sonic boom" effect if he flies low enough. This power is displyed in most of his appearences actually. To really throw a wrench into things, watch the 1956 movie carefully. Rodan displays a Godzilla-like breath weapon during the big attack on Fukuoka(Sasebo in the US version). It looks like a blast of air...or perhaps mist. This was dropped in his future showings in the older series. When he was revised for the 90's films, the breath weapon returned....as a Uranium blast....which closely resembled Godzilla's atomic ray. Rob

I did state that the movies vary in the big G's portrayal. I was simply looking for a consensus on the abilities that are core to Godzilla. In other words, abilities that would be shared by them all...regardless of movie. Generally, I think the wonderful folks on this board covered most bases....even reminding me of his radiation fetish.(Absorption) Rob

I had heard somwhere that there was plans to do some of the Monster island write-ups, but wasn't aware this had been confirmed. I too would be interested in seeing how they look...at least game mechanic wise. Rob

Yeah...Shirak IS pretty tough, but for some reason...I can't latch onto the monsters in the CU. Probably because the Kaiju "movieverse" seems so much more intriguing that'd I'd rather use Toho or other related monsters as my canon. Rob

Ah yes...you're quite right. I have blasphemied myself in front of the altar of Godzilla by forgetting to include an absorption power. Forgive me....oh mighty King of the Monsters! Seriously, thanks for the replies. I'm a big Godzilla fan and was curious for opinions. I have seen the Hero Beastiary version...but really...does anyone think that's anywhere near Godzilla's power level? Old school Minira....MAYBE, but otherwise...even Godzilla Jr. would be tougher than that. Rob

Mine was a mentalist I called the The Living Ego. Yes....he had overconfidence. He was actually killed in a battle by Anklosaur. I played another character called Electron for a while, but eventually...a plotline came along that had the Living Ego's consciousness enter Electron's body. Eventually, The Living Ego reshaped the new body to resemble his old one...and he was back in the game. I ended up playing him for another six years.(Yes, he is QUITE powerful at this point.) Rob