I suddenly got the idea for a cop gaining superpowers and thought him still being a police officer could be a good angle. Depending on the answers i get I may also go the "left the force due to corruption" route, but having a guy in uniform fighting crime would be cool.
You sir, need to stop with your Alts
But not a bad idea. Maybe an couple (read: squad) cops getting elemental powers from a freak accident involving something, somewhere, sometime?
Are there any dream based villains in CU, or at the very least any villains with dream/nightmare powers? Because a friend of mine plays a Dream based hero, and I thought a nightmare villain of sorts would be interesting for him.
Are there any dream based villains in CU, or at the very least any villains with dream/nightmare powers? Because a friend of mine plays a Dream based hero, and I thought a nightmare villain of sorts would be interesting for him.
There's a villainess named the Dreamwitch written up in Champions Villains, Volume 3.
There is also Demoiselle Nocturne, member of DEMON's Inner Circle and the self proclaimed 'Mistress of Nightmares'. She's featured in CO in Aftershock. Her powers include changing shape to match a person's worst nightmare, invading dreams to spy, or even kill someone.One of her more gruesome kills was when she murdered her husband in his dreams by literally turning him inside out. Demoiselle's full bio is found in the DEMON: Servants of Darkness book, which is a pretty amazing read.
Pertaining to the previous posts, the Dreamwitch is a human supervillain who can cause people to fall asleep or experience dreams of her choosing, including "waking nightmares" (although her power in this regard is greater over people who are already sleeping). Dreamwitch can also physically enter the Dreamzone, the dimension where people's astral forms go when they sleep. She doesn't like hurting people if she can help it, though -- she's a thief and a criminal for hire.
OTOH Demoiselle Nocturne is essentially Freddy Krueger, a monster who relishes inflicting fear and pain on others. Unlike Krueger she also has great power in the waking world. She's served by grotesque phantasmic creatures called Night Terrors.
First, are there any superpowered people officially employed by the MCPD as police officers? Seeing as Kodiak is with the FBI I don't have any info to go on here.
Second, if a police officer gained superpowers, would he be allowed to stay on the force and use his powers in the line of duty (Within reason obviously) or would he have to leave the police force and start a career as a superhero?
I suddenly got the idea for a cop gaining superpowers and thought him still being a police officer could be a good angle. Depending on the answers i get I may also go the "left the force due to corruption" route, but having a guy in uniform fighting crime would be cool.
I haven't been able to find any references to a true superhuman working as a city police officer, for the MCPD or any other force. Mil City has both its specially-equipped MARS units, and its elite squad, Special Unit Omega, for fighting super criminals; but both of these are made up of normal humans with top training and cutting-edge equipment. Nor any origins involving an officer forced to leave the force after gaining powers.
As you say, the FBI and other DOJ departments employ superhumans, and there's nothing lore-wise that says a superhuman couldn't work as a city cop if he wanted to. He'd probably serve in some specialized capacity, though, depending on his powers; and he might be the target of resentment from his normal colleagues. The Millennium City book does mention that the Chief of Police, James Surhoff, is less inclined to cooperate with superheroes than his predecessor, even popular ones like the Champions or Dr. Silverback. Can't say whether that attitude pertains to supers in general, or just those who aren't professional law-enforcement.
The Furnace of the First Ones is briefly described in Firewing's background text from Champions Villains Vol. 3, and in more detail in the chapter on the Malvans in Champions Beyond. It's the centerpiece of the enormous Grand Temple on Malva dedicated to the ancient Malvan religion of Rathuliorn, although few Malvans follow any religion any more.
"The heart of the temple is a circular chamber containing a large, intensely hot eternal flame: the Furnace of the First Ones. Legend says that the earliest Malvans kindled this holy fire, and that as long as it burns, Malva will never fall. If the fire ever dies, so too will the Malvan people, for it is their life-flame. Other stories claim that some Malvans are Firewings beings of great destiny and willpower who can walk into the flame and, instead of dying, emerge with their sins burned away and great power infused into their bodies. Most modern, jaded Malvans scoff at this, but the origin of the superhero Firewing (see CV3 111) proves that its true." (Champions Beyond p. 99)
Hey thanks for the answer; sorry for the late reply.
does Seattle and or Vancouver currently have an operating super hero team? I know as of COTN and News of the World for 5th edition both cities lack a team but I 'm curious if somewhere in 6th edition they mentioned it's changed, I've always thought it odd the "pacific northwest area" didn't have a long running eistablished team.
I don't recall that we've ever specified any, though we've mentioned some individual heroes working in that area. I have no doubt there is a team (perhaps more than one); we've simply never looked at 'em.
I would probably call them the SeaTac Sentinels (no affiliation with the NYC group), at least until a better name sprang to mind. My gaming association with Seattle mostly involves playing Shadowrun, so I'd have to be careful not to go all dark and jander-y.
We don't have any plans to update COTN to 6E at this time, though I suppose you never know what the future may bring. Typically we reserve revisions like that for "major" supplements that a lot of gamers tend to use; books like COTN, where the information remains more or less accurate and the character sheets can easily be adapted by any given GM, are secondary considerations.
OTOH if I ever have the time (ha!) I might be able to do cheap PDFs with the characters and such updated to 6E. I've done that for a couple other things, here and there.
First, are there any superpowered people officially employed by the MCPD as police officers? Seeing as Kodiak is with the FBI I don't have any info to go on here.
Second, if a police officer gained superpowers, would he be allowed to stay on the force and use his powers in the line of duty (Within reason obviously) or would he have to leave the police force and start a career as a superhero?
No doubt LL, or Thundrax, or someone else will correct me if I'm wrong, but offhand I don't recall us ever mentioning any MCPD officers who have superpowers. Given the nature of the CU setting, I suspect the MCPD would be willing to have some, if any hero wanted to go to the Academy (and passed). An existing officer who gained superpowers could probably be integrated into the force somehow, maybe as part of Special Unit Omega (see Cops, Crews, And Cabals) or SWAT.
Are there any dream based villains in CU, or at the very least any villains with dream/nightmare powers? Because a friend of mine plays a Dream based hero, and I thought a nightmare villain of sorts would be interesting for him.
There's at least one -- Dreamwitch, who has sleep and dream powers. You can find her character sheet in Champions Villains, Vol. 3. And there are certainly other villains with mental illusions-type powers who could probably manipulate dreams.
And I see some other posters have mentioned Demoiselle Nocturne. Using her may be tricky, though, since it could end up involving all of DEMON, which may not be what you want.
I don't recall that we've ever specified any, though we've mentioned some individual heroes working in that area. I have no doubt there is a team (perhaps more than one); we've simply never looked at 'em.
I would probably call them the SeaTac Sentinels (no affiliation with the NYC group), at least until a better name sprang to mind. My gaming association with Seattle mostly involves playing Shadowrun, so I'd have to be careful not to go all dark and jander-y.
When I went to the UW (and Champions was just Champions) our PnP game naturally used the city for its backdrop. We had the Emerald City Guardians as a super group, sometimes assisted by the Young Huskies (a group of child and college age heroes.)
Who knew the Suzzallo Library had such a collection of mystic and arcane works hidden in the archeology section?
And let's face it, the Space Needle makes for such a great backdrop in a finale.
Heres a question...I was reading about master villains in the 6th edition and the Warlord (who I think is a very interesting villain) uses "Blueboy "Hzeel" technology. Who are the Hzeel?
The Hzeel are short (about 4' average) bluish-skinned humanoids, who have created a small interstellar empire relatively close to Earth. They're involved in a war with the Perseids/Dorvalans (Ironclad's people), and have for almost two decades scouted Earth for invasion, as a potential staging area to make an "end-run" around the Perseids' defenses.
The Warlord's technology is based on a salvaged Hzeel scoutship. The same ship yielded the pendant which gives the villain Howler her sonic super-powers -- Hzeel tech is partially organic, and sometimes interacts in unpredictable ways with human biology. The same is true of Hzeel biology itself; a corpse from another crashed Hzeel vessel provided the donor eyes which imbued the VIPER villain Oculon with his destructive eyebeams. (Hzeel themselves don't appear to be able to manifest super-powers.)
Almost no other human is aware of the Hzeel contact with Earth, and no-one on Earth (including Ironclad) knows of their invasion plan. Right now the Hzeel are studying how the Qularr and Gadroon fare in their own battles against humanity. (There's a certain irony there... Steve Long spent years setting up the Hzeel invasion in the PnP continuity, then Cryptic expands a couple of throwaway references to past alien attackers, and has them invade Earth again first.)
The recent PnP source book Champions Beyond devotes a whole chapter to the Hzeel.
FWIW I tend to view the Hzeel as rather like a more dangerous variation on the Ferengi from Star Trek. Like Ferengi the Hzeel are greedy, deceitful, and treacherous, which can be played for comic effect (and has sometimes been in Hero Games books). But they're also tough, aggressive, and determined, not to be underestimated as opponents.
they're also tough, aggressive, and determined, not to be underestimated as opponents.
They'd have to be, if they are seriously engaged in a war with the Dorvalans. (A war, which I believe started After Ironclad escaped to Malva, and he doesn't even know his people are at war yet)
I always envisioned the Hzeel as looking like the Chiss from Star Wars.. *ponders a Hzeel invasion lead by the fearsome hzeel admiral Th'ra'wan
I found a pretty good fan-created picture of an Hzeel online: http://fitz.jsr.com/roleplay/hero/sci-fi/terranempire/species/hzeel.jpg. It's closely based on the illustration from Hero Games's Terran Empire sourcebook. Its only inaccuracy is that Hzeel have only four digits on their hands.
They'd have to be, if they are seriously engaged in a war with the Dorvalans. (A war, which I believe started After Ironclad escaped to Malva, and he doesn't even know his people are at war yet)
I remember that detail from Champions Universe or Champions Beyond, yes. I'd be interested in role-playing Ironclad's reaction once he finds out.
I remember that detail from Champions Universe or Champions Beyond, yes. I'd be interested in role-playing Ironclad's reaction once he finds out.
Sounds like a comic series waiting to happen. Also it should be used to spawn a series of zone events at the end; think of it like the Rikti World Invasion from City of Heroes.
Who knew the Suzzallo Library had such a collection of mystic and arcane works hidden in the archeology section?
Ha!
In the Champions campaign I ran when I attended Duke, the players ended up nicknaming themselves "the Abandoned Warehouse Exploration Club," because so many scenarios involved entering old, "abandoned" warehouses.
Heres a question...I was reading about master villains in the 6th edition and the Warlord (who I think is a very interesting villain) uses "Blueboy "Hzeel" technology. Who are the Hzeel?
If you want the full details, there's a whole chapter on them in Champions Beyond. Briefly, they're a race of short, blue-skinned aliens. They're currently at war with the Perseids, and Earth is sort of smack in the middle of their respective territories. The Hzeel want Earth for a forward observation post and source of raw materials and slave labor.
For almost eight years I dropped hints about the forthcoming Hzeel invasion of Earth in various supplements. I figured eventually we'd do a big book about it or something.
And then Cryptic comes along, ignores all my carefully-laid hints, and taps two alien species that were in the setting for throw-away/background purposes -- the Qularr and the Gadroon -- and makes them the centerpieces of various invasion zones and missions, and never mentions the Hzeel. But I'm not bitter.
For almost eight years I dropped hints about the forthcoming Hzeel invasion of Earth in various supplements. I figured eventually we'd do a big book about it or something.
And then Cryptic comes along, ignores all my carefully-laid hints, and taps two alien species that were in the setting for throw-away/background purposes -- the Qularr and the Gadroon -- and makes them the centerpieces of various invasion zones and missions, and never mentions the Hzeel. But I'm not bitter.
/slightpersonalpeeveon
*Grinds teeth*
*Grumble grumble* "More Champions in Champions Online!" *grumble grumble*.
In the Champions campaign I ran when I attended Duke, the players ended up nicknaming themselves "the Abandoned Warehouse Exploration Club," because so many scenarios involved entering old, "abandoned" warehouses.
Well, looks like Cryptic stayed true to that aspect of the game with their citizen missions / westside arc....
If you want the full details, there's a whole chapter on them in Champions Beyond. Briefly, they're a race of short, blue-skinned aliens. They're currently at war with the Perseids, and Earth is sort of smack in the middle of their respective territories. The Hzeel want Earth for a forward observation post and source of raw materials and slave labor.
For almost eight years I dropped hints about the forthcoming Hzeel invasion of Earth in various supplements. I figured eventually we'd do a big book about it or something.
And then Cryptic comes along, ignores all my carefully-laid hints, and taps two alien species that were in the setting for throw-away/background purposes -- the Qularr and the Gadroon -- and makes them the centerpieces of various invasion zones and missions, and never mentions the Hzeel. But I'm not bitter.
Perhaps Steve the Hzeel have simply manipulated the Gadroon and the Qularr into launching invasions of earth, predicting that the invasions will fail, but of course soften the earth up?
The Gadroon already have someone else pulling their strings and encouraging them to open a bridgehead on earth (this lore is present in CO). The Qulaar are mainly interested in us for our women.. er resources, genetic material (to greatly increase the instance of superpowers in their brood lines) and the accessibility of strange creatures for their armies.
Perhaps Steve the Hzeel have simply manipulated the Gadroon and the Qularr into launching invasions of earth, predicting that the invasions will fail, but of course soften the earth up?
That's a clever idea that I'm sure many a Champions GM could make use of! Unfortunately from a "lore" perspective, both species attacked Earth years before the Hzeel would've been able to do so, or even knew about Earth (or the Perseids). We'll just have to save that idea for when Brian Michael Bendis retcons things.
I have some questions about national or international agencies that recruits super humans. Or rather, I would know if there is an agency of such type that :
- Renumerates its agents
- Can send them on solo missions (for coherence)
- Covers all the zones of the game (again, coherence)
If such an agency exist, do its agents have to wear some king of uniform?
I thank whoever will answer me, and sorry if my English is bad .
I have some questions about national or international agencies that recruits super humans. Or rather, I would know if there is an agency of such type that :
- Renumerates its agents
- Can send them on solo missions (for coherence)
- Covers all the zones of the game (again, coherence)
If such an agency exist, do its agents have to wear some king of uniform?
I thank whoever will answer me, and sorry if my English is bad .
By renumerate, you mean they are paid regular salary? Like a para-military organization?
In other words, I'm assuming you're looking for something along the lines of an equivalent to G.I. Joe. Or perhaps "The Experts of Justice" from the Giant Robo anime.
UNTIL Is probably your best bet for a canon in-game (both PnP and MMO) agency that has global reach and can employ superhumans both in teams and individually. UNITY is the canon supergroup within UNTIL. But who's to say they couldn't add more to the team? Or perhaps create more UNITY teams? Or even employ individual supers?
PRIMUS has the Silver Avenger programs which produce superhuman agents. But they are limited in jurisdiction to the United States and related territories. There's no indication that they are going to hire out superheroes to work directly for them either.
For a more Private organization, the Goodman Institute is a recent addition to the lore. It hasn't made it into the MMO yet. Most of what is known was detailed in "Champions Universe: News of the World". They employ more "Science Hero" types. Think "Johnny Quest" or even Fantastic Four (and for those that get the reference - Gold Digger from Antarctic Press by Fred Perry) . The type of characters that don't necessarily go looking for trouble or fight crime. But trouble tends to find them.
I agree that UNTIL would be one good option, as the premier "good-guy" agency responsible for global anti-supervillain security. Its official superteam, Unity, has a number of reserve members in addition to the main team, who might be called in for specific cases. For other superhumans working for UNTIL, please see this post. The lore implies but doesn't specify that supers who are just associated with UNTIL, rather than actually employed by the agency, don't receive any sort of remuneration for their services. While actual UNTIL agents wear standard uniforms (some examples of which are in Champions Online), superheroes working for it can wear distinctive costumes if they so desire.
The Goodman Institute is a (technically) for-profit organization which provides scientific consulting services to the superhero community, in exchange for the right to exploit any discoveries made in the process. Its "encounter teams" travel around the world to explore unique phenomena, and are usually led by one of a few superheroes on its payroll. The Institute also hires superhumans with particular expertise to work on specific projects. It doesn't have a "uniform" as such, although normal human researchers in the field wear armor and carry non-lethal weapons for protection.
Now I have a question, which I expect Thundrax is best qualified to answer, although Steve Long is welcome to reply if he has a definitive view.
Do the Four Great Spirits of the North described in Champions Of The North confine their interests and activities to the North American continent? Or can their influence be felt in the regions of Europe and Asia that border the Arctic?
Now I have a question, which I expect Thundrax is best qualified to answer, although Steve Long is welcome to reply if he has a definitive view.
Do the Four Great Spirits of the North described in Champions Of The North confine their interests and activities to the North American continent? Or can their influence be felt in the regions of Europe and Asia that border the Arctic?
There's probably a tiny bit of overlap in Northern Europe, given speculation about an ancient connection between Inuit cuiltures and the remnants of shamanism in Northen Europe (such as the Sami peoples of Scandanavia). And Kigaltilik was active there too, as Champions Villains attests.
One of the "do over" things I'd more carefully define if there was ever another edition of CotN would be to tie that over-mythology more strongly to the Champions Universe cosmology.
However, we'll leave that for Steve to give a definitive answer; I had certainly envisioned them mostly confined to the North American continent.
OK, here's a question that combines two topics we talked about recently:
We know there is magic, and we know there are alien, are there any magic aliens?
Yes. The Elder Worms and the Thane. There's also mention of a superhuman class creatrure named Grimoire, who's the last survivor of a magical-capable species from Andromeda.
Yes. The Elder Worms and the Thane. There's also mention of a superhuman class creatrure named Grimoire, who's the last survivor of a magical-capable species from Andromeda.
In addition, "The Night Philosopher, a cruel, shadow-manipulating super-mage," is languishing in the Star*Prison on Odrugar.
"The average Thane is about 1.8 meters tall with disproportionately long arms and fingers. His moist, leathery skin is a disturbing brownish-purple shade, and his glowing orangish eyes bulge from their sockets (and, on close examination, are faceted like those of an insect). His mouth is a mass of large cilia or small tentacle-like appendages, rather than a jaw with teeth; no one knows what he eats, or how. He typically wears a hooded brown robe." (Champions Beyond p. 218)
The Thane were creations of the Elder Worm to aid them in their war with the Malvans. They have formidable mental powers, and some Thane also practice sorcery. Like their masters they hid from the Malvans when their war was lost, but in the present day they feel strong enough to start building their own stellar empire.
Is it just me or does the drawing of the villain Lamplighter in the 6th edition solo villains guide look like Patrick Stewart. Like exacly like him. Like someone used a few photoshop filters on his head and all that?
It's not just you. Heck, the 4th and 5th Edition artwork for this character also looked eerily like Patrick Stewart. I always wondered what was up with that. "Casting" against type to make the players think when they first see him, "Nah, the main villain couldn't be this guy! It's got to be that far more obvious Stalin wannabe over there!" ^^;
The physical description of the character is close enough to Stewart that the first time Lamplighter was drawn, he may have coincidentally looked like that actor. But drawing him that way seems to have become a tradition.
OTOH for a villain who makes a point of not attracting attention to himself, looking like the last guy you'd suspect has its advantages.
I'm back with a bunch of new questions and I'd hope for some of your knowledge...
1. Has there ever been a scientist working with Teleios or his former self Jakob Stroessen (is this viable for a Spoiler?) and surviving?
2. Are there any creatures in the Champions lore which (loosely) fit the following description: Bat-like in appearance, swarm behaviour, highly aggressive and vicious?
3. There are a lot of treatments and projects which aim to give people superpowers. Is there one, which gives specifically the following: Extreme acrobatics and dexterity, above average thoughness and strength and (as a side effect) mental instability?
4. Does anyone with a secretly evil background compete against Calvin Biselle for the position of MCs mayor?
I'm back with a bunch of new questions and I'd hope for some of your knowledge...
1. Has there ever been a scientist working with Teleios or his former self Jakob Stroessen (is this viable for a Spoiler?) and surviving?
2. Are there any creatures in the Champions lore which (loosely) fit the following description: Bat-like in appearance, swarm behaviour, highly aggressive and vicious?
3. There are a lot of treatments and projects which aim to give people superpowers. Is there one, which gives specifically the following: Extreme acrobatics and dexterity, above average thoughness and strength and (as a side effect) mental instability?
4. Does anyone with a secretly evil background compete against Calvin Biselle for the position of MCs mayor?
Thanks in advance!
1. To date Teleios is always described as working alone, although he will work for almost any party who'll meet his price. As Jakob Stroessen he collaborated briefly with other researchers early in his post-academic career, but his intellectual arrogance and radical theories quickly isolated him.
2. There are supernatural demons in Champions Online who loosely match that description -- you may have encountered some in-game. There's a singular bat-human villain, Vesper. I also know of unusually aggressive swarming insects. But I can't think of any unusual batlike races or creatures that are part of canon.
3. In the early 1980s UNTIL conducted a project to physically enhance its agents, dubbed the "Future Soldier Program." All but one of the volunteer subjects developed severe physical or mental side-effects, and the program was scrapped after a few years. One of these subjects became extremely paranoid, and fled UNTIL to become the super-villain Scimitar. The physical successes gained low-level superhuman strength, speed, toughness, and agility (although I don't know if you would consider them "extreme"). In recent years the scientist in charge of the original program has been pushing to reinstate it using more modern techniques.
4. According to the Millennium City book, while not actually described as a rival to Biselle
City Councilmember Philip McAuliffe is a VIPER agent. He's also "under the sway of" Medusa of PSI.
However, MC was published eight years ago, so the situation may have changed significantly. A new edition of the book is supposed to come out some time next year.
Comments
You sir, need to stop with your Alts
But not a bad idea. Maybe an couple (read: squad) cops getting elemental powers from a freak accident involving something, somewhere, sometime?
There's a villainess named the Dreamwitch written up in Champions Villains, Volume 3.
Hmm, yeah that might work, even having the cop part just be a backstory can work just fine, it would explain the characters commitment to the law.
Oh, and no, I won't stop with my alts. But I will try to level some more to 40, I'm running out of lifetime character slots.
OTOH Demoiselle Nocturne is essentially Freddy Krueger, a monster who relishes inflicting fear and pain on others. Unlike Krueger she also has great power in the waking world. She's served by grotesque phantasmic creatures called Night Terrors.
I haven't been able to find any references to a true superhuman working as a city police officer, for the MCPD or any other force. Mil City has both its specially-equipped MARS units, and its elite squad, Special Unit Omega, for fighting super criminals; but both of these are made up of normal humans with top training and cutting-edge equipment. Nor any origins involving an officer forced to leave the force after gaining powers.
As you say, the FBI and other DOJ departments employ superhumans, and there's nothing lore-wise that says a superhuman couldn't work as a city cop if he wanted to. He'd probably serve in some specialized capacity, though, depending on his powers; and he might be the target of resentment from his normal colleagues. The Millennium City book does mention that the Chief of Police, James Surhoff, is less inclined to cooperate with superheroes than his predecessor, even popular ones like the Champions or Dr. Silverback. Can't say whether that attitude pertains to supers in general, or just those who aren't professional law-enforcement.
If you like the concept, I say go for it.
Oh no slight meant, I was just saying that you've contributed a great deal to us.
Hey thanks for the answer; sorry for the late reply.
I don't recall that we've ever specified any, though we've mentioned some individual heroes working in that area. I have no doubt there is a team (perhaps more than one); we've simply never looked at 'em.
I would probably call them the SeaTac Sentinels (no affiliation with the NYC group), at least until a better name sprang to mind.
We don't have any plans to update COTN to 6E at this time, though I suppose you never know what the future may bring. Typically we reserve revisions like that for "major" supplements that a lot of gamers tend to use; books like COTN, where the information remains more or less accurate and the character sheets can easily be adapted by any given GM, are secondary considerations.
OTOH if I ever have the time (ha!) I might be able to do cheap PDFs with the characters and such updated to 6E. I've done that for a couple other things, here and there.
No doubt LL, or Thundrax, or someone else will correct me if I'm wrong, but offhand I don't recall us ever mentioning any MCPD officers who have superpowers. Given the nature of the CU setting, I suspect the MCPD would be willing to have some, if any hero wanted to go to the Academy (and passed). An existing officer who gained superpowers could probably be integrated into the force somehow, maybe as part of Special Unit Omega (see Cops, Crews, And Cabals) or SWAT.
There's at least one -- Dreamwitch, who has sleep and dream powers. You can find her character sheet in Champions Villains, Vol. 3. And there are certainly other villains with mental illusions-type powers who could probably manipulate dreams.
And I see some other posters have mentioned Demoiselle Nocturne. Using her may be tricky, though, since it could end up involving all of DEMON, which may not be what you want.
Well, I come by and answer questions as often as I can. ::scuffs foot in dirt, looks abashed::
Like everyone else, I deeply appreciate LL, Thundrax, et al. helping out!
When I went to the UW (and Champions was just Champions) our PnP game naturally used the city for its backdrop. We had the Emerald City Guardians as a super group, sometimes assisted by the Young Huskies (a group of child and college age heroes.)
Who knew the Suzzallo Library had such a collection of mystic and arcane works hidden in the archeology section?
And let's face it, the Space Needle makes for such a great backdrop in a finale.
Memories.
yeah but someone ALWAYS wants to pick it up and smack doctor destroyer with it
The Warlord's technology is based on a salvaged Hzeel scoutship. The same ship yielded the pendant which gives the villain Howler her sonic super-powers -- Hzeel tech is partially organic, and sometimes interacts in unpredictable ways with human biology. The same is true of Hzeel biology itself; a corpse from another crashed Hzeel vessel provided the donor eyes which imbued the VIPER villain Oculon with his destructive eyebeams. (Hzeel themselves don't appear to be able to manifest super-powers.)
Almost no other human is aware of the Hzeel contact with Earth, and no-one on Earth (including Ironclad) knows of their invasion plan. Right now the Hzeel are studying how the Qularr and Gadroon fare in their own battles against humanity. (There's a certain irony there... Steve Long spent years setting up the Hzeel invasion in the PnP continuity, then Cryptic expands a couple of throwaway references to past alien attackers, and has them invade Earth again first.)
The recent PnP source book Champions Beyond devotes a whole chapter to the Hzeel.
They'd have to be, if they are seriously engaged in a war with the Dorvalans. (A war, which I believe started After Ironclad escaped to Malva, and he doesn't even know his people are at war yet)
I found a pretty good fan-created picture of an Hzeel online: http://fitz.jsr.com/roleplay/hero/sci-fi/terranempire/species/hzeel.jpg. It's closely based on the illustration from Hero Games's Terran Empire sourcebook. Its only inaccuracy is that Hzeel have only four digits on their hands.
I remember that detail from Champions Universe or Champions Beyond, yes. I'd be interested in role-playing Ironclad's reaction once he finds out.
Sounds like a comic series waiting to happen. Also it should be used to spawn a series of zone events at the end; think of it like the Rikti World Invasion from City of Heroes.
Ha!
In the Champions campaign I ran when I attended Duke, the players ended up nicknaming themselves "the Abandoned Warehouse Exploration Club," because so many scenarios involved entering old, "abandoned" warehouses.
If you want the full details, there's a whole chapter on them in Champions Beyond. Briefly, they're a race of short, blue-skinned aliens. They're currently at war with the Perseids, and Earth is sort of smack in the middle of their respective territories. The Hzeel want Earth for a forward observation post and source of raw materials and slave labor.
For almost eight years I dropped hints about the forthcoming Hzeel invasion of Earth in various supplements. I figured eventually we'd do a big book about it or something.
And then Cryptic comes along, ignores all my carefully-laid hints, and taps two alien species that were in the setting for throw-away/background purposes -- the Qularr and the Gadroon -- and makes them the centerpieces of various invasion zones and missions, and never mentions the Hzeel. But I'm not bitter.
That's correct. If he ever re-establishes contact with his people, he'll be surprised to learn they're in a longstanding interstellar war.
/slightpersonalpeeveon
*Grinds teeth*
*Grumble grumble* "More Champions in Champions Online!" *grumble grumble*.
/slightpersonalpeeveoff
Well, looks like Cryptic stayed true to that aspect of the game with their citizen missions / westside arc....
Perhaps Steve the Hzeel have simply manipulated the Gadroon and the Qularr into launching invasions of earth, predicting that the invasions will fail, but of course soften the earth up?
That's a clever idea that I'm sure many a Champions GM could make use of! Unfortunately from a "lore" perspective, both species attacked Earth years before the Hzeel would've been able to do so, or even knew about Earth (or the Perseids). We'll just have to save that idea for when Brian Michael Bendis retcons things.
Who's a powerful mage in CO lore that can whisper "No more magic"?
- Renumerates its agents
- Can send them on solo missions (for coherence)
- Covers all the zones of the game (again, coherence)
If such an agency exist, do its agents have to wear some king of uniform?
I thank whoever will answer me, and sorry if my English is bad
By renumerate, you mean they are paid regular salary? Like a para-military organization?
In other words, I'm assuming you're looking for something along the lines of an equivalent to G.I. Joe. Or perhaps "The Experts of Justice" from the Giant Robo anime.
UNTIL Is probably your best bet for a canon in-game (both PnP and MMO) agency that has global reach and can employ superhumans both in teams and individually. UNITY is the canon supergroup within UNTIL. But who's to say they couldn't add more to the team? Or perhaps create more UNITY teams? Or even employ individual supers?
PRIMUS has the Silver Avenger programs which produce superhuman agents. But they are limited in jurisdiction to the United States and related territories. There's no indication that they are going to hire out superheroes to work directly for them either.
For a more Private organization, the Goodman Institute is a recent addition to the lore. It hasn't made it into the MMO yet. Most of what is known was detailed in "Champions Universe: News of the World". They employ more "Science Hero" types. Think "Johnny Quest" or even Fantastic Four (and for those that get the reference - Gold Digger from Antarctic Press by Fred Perry) . The type of characters that don't necessarily go looking for trouble or fight crime. But trouble tends to find them.
The Goodman Institute is a (technically) for-profit organization which provides scientific consulting services to the superhero community, in exchange for the right to exploit any discoveries made in the process. Its "encounter teams" travel around the world to explore unique phenomena, and are usually led by one of a few superheroes on its payroll. The Institute also hires superhumans with particular expertise to work on specific projects. It doesn't have a "uniform" as such, although normal human researchers in the field wear armor and carry non-lethal weapons for protection.
Do the Four Great Spirits of the North described in Champions Of The North confine their interests and activities to the North American continent? Or can their influence be felt in the regions of Europe and Asia that border the Arctic?
There's probably a tiny bit of overlap in Northern Europe, given speculation about an ancient connection between Inuit cuiltures and the remnants of shamanism in Northen Europe (such as the Sami peoples of Scandanavia). And Kigaltilik was active there too, as Champions Villains attests.
One of the "do over" things I'd more carefully define if there was ever another edition of CotN would be to tie that over-mythology more strongly to the Champions Universe cosmology.
However, we'll leave that for Steve to give a definitive answer; I had certainly envisioned them mostly confined to the North American continent.
We know there is magic, and we know there are alien, are there any magic aliens?
Yes. The Elder Worms and the Thane. There's also mention of a superhuman class creatrure named Grimoire, who's the last survivor of a magical-capable species from Andromeda.
So, what are the Thane like?
In addition, "The Night Philosopher, a cruel, shadow-manipulating super-mage," is languishing in the Star*Prison on Odrugar.
"The average Thane is about 1.8 meters tall with disproportionately long arms and fingers. His moist, leathery skin is a disturbing brownish-purple shade, and his glowing orangish eyes bulge from their sockets (and, on close examination, are faceted like those of an insect). His mouth is a mass of large cilia or small tentacle-like appendages, rather than a jaw with teeth; no one knows what he eats, or how. He typically wears a hooded brown robe." (Champions Beyond p. 218)
The Thane were creations of the Elder Worm to aid them in their war with the Malvans. They have formidable mental powers, and some Thane also practice sorcery. Like their masters they hid from the Malvans when their war was lost, but in the present day they feel strong enough to start building their own stellar empire.
OTOH for a villain who makes a point of not attracting attention to himself, looking like the last guy you'd suspect has its advantages.
I'm back with a bunch of new questions and I'd hope for some of your knowledge...
1. Has there ever been a scientist working with Teleios or his former self Jakob Stroessen (is this viable for a Spoiler?
2. Are there any creatures in the Champions lore which (loosely) fit the following description: Bat-like in appearance, swarm behaviour, highly aggressive and vicious?
3. There are a lot of treatments and projects which aim to give people superpowers. Is there one, which gives specifically the following: Extreme acrobatics and dexterity, above average thoughness and strength and (as a side effect) mental instability?
4. Does anyone with a secretly evil background compete against Calvin Biselle for the position of MCs mayor?
Thanks in advance!
1. To date Teleios is always described as working alone, although he will work for almost any party who'll meet his price. As Jakob Stroessen he collaborated briefly with other researchers early in his post-academic career, but his intellectual arrogance and radical theories quickly isolated him.
2. There are supernatural demons in Champions Online who loosely match that description -- you may have encountered some in-game. There's a singular bat-human villain, Vesper. I also know of unusually aggressive swarming insects. But I can't think of any unusual batlike races or creatures that are part of canon.
3. In the early 1980s UNTIL conducted a project to physically enhance its agents, dubbed the "Future Soldier Program." All but one of the volunteer subjects developed severe physical or mental side-effects, and the program was scrapped after a few years. One of these subjects became extremely paranoid, and fled UNTIL to become the super-villain Scimitar. The physical successes gained low-level superhuman strength, speed, toughness, and agility (although I don't know if you would consider them "extreme"). In recent years the scientist in charge of the original program has been pushing to reinstate it using more modern techniques.
4. According to the Millennium City book, while not actually described as a rival to Biselle