Godlike in Basic Role Playing

I ran the start of the adventure "Donar's Hammer" last night from the game, Godlike, by Greg Stolze and crowd. However, I didn't do it with the Godlike rules. Instead I used BRP and the Super Powers section.

The guys had a blast, and have requested that we run that as the next campaign. That's a good sign.

As much as I enjoy BRP, though, I wish I had run using the Godlike/ORE rules, because I enjoy them so much (and then I wouldn't have to do running conversions in my head). I think that I will switch them to the ORE ruleset when I start this game. I believe the setting is the attractive part, with system as a secondary consideration, but I think that I will have a better handle and more open design environment with ORE. We'll see.

I have ended my run of Champions on Friday night, for the nonce. The character's ran into Takofanes, but I had him concentrating his power elsewhere, so he only killed a few of them before they stopped him (they had to use the whole team, including alternate characters). I think they may have experienced actual dismay at the thought that they might not be able to stop him, and the revelation that he was only using part of his power was terrifying.

Paper Miniatures by me!

Wow! Microsoft OneNote!

I haven't ever used this awesome piece of software, but I am blown away! This is the perfect GM tool.

Video about OneNote here.

I have created notebooks for each of my campaigns, and inside each of these I have created a GM screen, copies of all the PCs, NPCs, Atlas, Session Planning, XP Logs, etc. You can copy out of just about anything you have (Excel sheets, pdfs, emails, images, etc. etc.) and make you own custom notes.

I can't say enough about how much I am digging this.

My Champions Character Balance Worksheet

I have decided to reset the value of SPD to 2, for calculating where you should be in my campaign. I built a little Google Spreadsheet that you can punch in how many points your character is, and what your characteristics are, and it will tell you whether you are up or down from the limits.

Here is a link to my worksheet.

Bear in mind that if you change the basic formula, it saves the changes for everyone who looks at it, so you might want to just copy it and paste a copy to play with, that you then delete.

Introducing the Characters: First: Thorzine!

Charles has a depraved riff on Thor, with Thorzine, the god of thunder and rock and roll. He started out as a drugged-up Thor who stayed stoned all the time, and has since had to swear to soberness to get the aid of his father, Oddin.  It's all twisted dementia as Charles has perverted everything you thought you knew about Assgerd, his enchanted mallet Mjolnerd, Madgerd, his half-brother Lucky with the plan of making everyone think Thorzine is gay,  and his little dog the Funris Poodle. 

The Mighty Thorzine! 

Val     Char  Cost   Roll       Notes

50+10   STR      40      19- / 21-  Lift 25.6tons/102.4tons; 10d6/12d6 [5]

  23       DEX     39      14-            OCV:  8/DCV:  8

  23       CON     26      14-

12+1     BODY   4       11- / 12-

  10       INT        0       11-            PER Roll 11-

  11       EGO      2       11-            ECV:  4

  25       PRE      15      14-            PRE Attack:  5d6

  18       COM     4       13- 

30+1     PD        20                       Total:  30/31 PD (30 rPD)

30+1     ED        25                       Total:  30/31 ED (30 rED)

    4        SPD       7                        Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12

  15       REC      0

  46       END      0

49+1     STUN    0       Total Characteristic Cost:  182

Movement:                   Running:               6"/12"

                                       Flight:                     40"/80"

                                        Leaping:                10"/20"

                                        Swimming:            2"/4"

 

Cost  Powers                                                              END

30       Damage Resistance (30 PD/30 ED)

25       Healing 1 BODY, Can Heal Limbs, Resurrection, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent (+½) (70 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 1 Turn (Post-Segment 12) (-1 ¼), Self Only (-½)

5          Sight Group Flash Defense (5 points)

5          Power Defense (5 points)

4          Mental Defense (6 points total)

7          Growth (+5 STR, +1 BODY, +1 STUN, -1" KB, 182 kg, +0 DCV, +0 PER Rolls to perceive character, 2 m tall, 1 m wide), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent (+½) (10 Active Points); Always On (-½)

7          Density Increase (200 kg mass, +5 STR, +1 PD/ED, -1" KB), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent (+½) (10 Active Points); Always On (-½)

15       Life Support  (Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Longevity: Immortal)

10       The Helm of Valorious Valor:  Flight 10" (20 Active Points); OAF (-1)        2

3          Mjolnerd:  Stretching 1", Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent (+½) (10 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only To Cause Damage (-½), Always Direct (-¼), no Noncombat Stretching (-¼), No Velocity Damage (-¼)

30       Mjolnerd the Axe:  Multipower, 60-point reserve,  (60 Active Points); all slots OAF (-1)

2u       1)  Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2 ½d6 (5d6+1 w/STR) (40 Active Points); OAF (-1)          4

6m      2)  Flight 30" (60 Active Points); OAF (-1)                           6

3u       3)  Lightning Bolt:  Energy Blast 12d6 (60 Active Points); OAF (-1)            6

15       God Powers:  Variable Power Pool (Cosmic ), 10 base + 5 control cost,  (15 Active Points)

 

       Perks

15       Money:  Filthy Rich

2          Irregular's Base:  Vehicles & Bases

 

       Skills

3          Concealment 11-

5          Cramming

3          Power 11-

1          High Society 8-

3          Scholar

1          1)  KS: Assgerd (2 Active Points) 11-

1          2)  KS: Assgerdian history (2 Active Points) 11-

1          3)  KS: City  (2 Active Points) 11-

1          4)  KS: Rock Music (2 Active Points) 11-

1          5)  KS: TV shows (2 Active Points) 11-

1          6)  KS: drugs (2 Active Points) 11-

3          PS: Lead Guitar  14-

Total Powers & Skill Cost:  208

Total Cost:  390

225+  Disadvantages

15       Public ID Gunnar (Svenson) Oddinson:  (Frequently, Major)

20       Hunted:  Unknown 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)

25       Psychological Limitation:  Thinks he is a god (Very Common, Total)

10       Psychological Limitation:  Needs To Protect Mortals in Danger (Uncommon, Strong)

10       Reputation:  Totally Awesome God of Thunder and Rock & Roll!, 11-

15       Psychological Limitation:  Overconfident (Very Common, Moderate)

10       Hunted:  Homeland Security 8- (As Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching)

5          Social Limitation:  Sense of Superiority (Occasionally, Minor)

25       Enraged:  Berserk When takes Body (Uncommon), go 8-, recover 8-

15       Enraged:  When Accused of Being Homosexual (Uncommon), go 11-, recover 11-

15       Experience Points

 

Total Disadvantage Points:  390

Champions Power Levels

I have implemented a system for determining limits for the player's characters. Instead of the cookie cutter approach of setting an across the board limit on characteristics, power and defense levels, I prefer a more fluid approach, which allows some variety between characters.

For basic 350 point characters, a starting level of Speed 5, Average Combat Value 8, Attack Power of 60 Active Points, and Defenses totaling 90 points.

Average Combat Value is determined by adding the normal OCV or ECV and normal DCV of the characters main attack, plus any applicable levels, divided by two.

Defense totals are determined by adding the characters PD, ED, resistant PD, resistant ED, active points of Damage Reduction, Mental Defense, Power Defense and Flash Defense together.

Players may modify a starting level down to move another level up. Speed and Average Combat Value change at a rate of 1 per level. Attack Active Points change at a rate of 5 per level. Defenses change at a rate of 10 per level.

So, lowering the beginning speed to 4, would allow a character to move the Active Points of his biggest attack up one level to 65 Active Points.

As a character advances in experience, he would be allowed to move one area up by one level per 5 experience over 350.

Hero Games Champions

I just recently started GMing my Friday night Champions game, a task I share with two other game masters currently. One of them, Jon, is about to go away for a few months. He just finished running a Dr. Destroyer adventure, and asked me to run for a while. I plan on making a few changes.

One of them is the introduction of a "power meter", based on SPD, OCV, Damage Classes, Defenses, moderated by the point total of the character.

Another is the decision to let everyone start a secondary character, since we've reached a point where the team has become more official, requiring more members in our opinion. The group formerly known as The Irregulars has changed its name to The Watch, since deciding to use its resources to build a satellite base.

Another is the introduction of on-line blue-booking. It is an easy way to develop the background stories of the characters, and to fully flesh out some scenes from the actual games. I started it about a week ago, and am very happy that all the players have chosen to take part. It started out with a great letter from Foxbat to a team member.

First, I'll introduce the characters and players, and as we go by I will describe specific things that I've decided to try out and particulars from game night that I've enjoyed.