Equilibrium (Jeff)
Self-proclaimed keeper of the 'Cosmic Balance', Equilibrium is a half-Chinese/half-Japanese man in his thirties who possesses the ability to redirect violent actions back against whomever originated them, or simply dissipate the action back into the universal Karma.
Equilibrium is a master of numerous martial disciplines and possesses a 'Cosmic Awareness' that often grants him cryptic insight into the goings on of the universe. At the same time, he is not above using modern body armor and equipment should the need arise.
A philosopher, martial artist and inquisitive mind with few rivals, Equilibrium's ultimate goal is to achieve oneness with the universe such that he may teach a different, non-violent way of being to the rest of humanity.
The Grey Flame (Andy)
The ghost of an actor who died trying to save immigrants from a burning tenement in 1927, the entity now known as The Grey Flame was, for many years, thought to be an urban legend. Originally referred to as, 'The Man in Grey', the ghost received his current name from one of the few remaining members of the Silver Age Champions who thought The Grey Flame was a hero recruited to join the team.
In addition to being able to pass through solid objects, Grey Flame is invisible, flies and can release blasts of colorless, supernatural fire. He must be wary of church bells and salt, as the former can cause him pain and anguish, while both can disrupt his abilities.
IMPACT (Dave)
A fourteen year old boy with the power to transform into an 8 ft. tall, hulking wrestler (he resembles 'The Ultimate Warrior') with superpowers. The transformation is accompanied by theme music, a light show and an increase in the volume of his voice.
In addition to great strength, speed and stamina, Impact has a movable force field that rebounds kinetic energy with a powerful counter-force. The powers were granted to him when he found what appears to a Championship Wrestling belt. Now, the belt only works for him and he can not seem to be rid of it if he wanted to. Which he doesn't.
Master Builder (Will)
Formerly the British Superhero 'The Land Lord' (the third in a legacy), Master Builder was more interested in showmanship and popularity than actually fighting crime. During the last altercation of his short career, the family heirloom that granted him his powers was broken.
Disowned by his family and banished from his home, Master Builder set out to make a new name for himself in the USA using the new powers he developed after exposure to the shattered magical crown. He hopes he can impress his family and show them he has what it takes to be a true hero.
Master Builder is essentially a man made of concrete. He can shape and 'sculpt' himself into various forms, stretch, absorb rock, cement and similar materials, increase his density and strength and manipulate rock to form various objects.
N*Gage (Ray)
A humanoid robot (but not an Android. It looks very obviously robotic) invented by Project: UNITY member Professor N (Ray's character from our previous campaign) before he departed this reality to explore Dimension N.
Powered by the amazing N*Drive (drawing N*Ergy directly from Dimension N), N*Gage can fire N*Ergy Blasts, appear to walk on air, create a wireless link into the Internet and various communication systems and is in the process of inventing remotely operated robot helpers of his own.
N*Gage appeared to be somewhat unfinished or perhaps a work in progress. Just as he is tinking with creating new mechanical minions for himself, so also is he modifying is own design to better serve his purposes.
Phalanx (Hans)
Female former member of PRIMUS, garbed in American patriotic motif armor and carrying a shield (closer to Captain America's original WW II shield. A heater-shaped design). No-nonsense military type, strategy and tactics minded, and the team's de facto field commander and coordinator.
Phalanx's power is to psionically create weapons out of psychic energy. She declares the weapon she wants to manifest (to help her focus), and then wills a wispy field of blue-white light into being that resembles a sword, handgun, grenade launcher or whathaveyou.The bullets, grenades or other effects of these weapons are psychic attacks, no physical ones.
(Hans is the one moving, so we decided that Phalanx's job following the first adventure, will be to remain at the Champions HQ and coordinate the team's efforts. Imagine Martian Manhunter in the Justice League Unlimited animated series).
Silent Justice (Eric)
Silent Justice and Equilibrium trained together as children at a secret Taoist temple hidden in the mountains of Taiwan. They met again much later in life and joined forces just prior to joining up with new Champions.
Silent Justice was born mute, but possesses telepathy and psychic senses that give him an unprecedented understanding of a field of battle or a crisis situation. He is a master of Tai'chi ch'uan and Iga Ninjitsu.
Perhaps his most powerful and unusual ability is the power to extend his martial arts skills through telekinesis. While he can not use his TK in the traditional way of lifting things with his mind, he can throw a punch or a kick at a target a hundred feet away or set up a defensive stance capable of deflecting bullets long before they reach him.
Vanish (Mark)
A mysterious young man with amazing powers, Vanish has the ability to dimension travel while running. What appears to others as superspeed is actually dozens to hundreds of short teleporting 'jumps' as he opens and closes gates between one spot and the next.
Usually the little understood concept of 'Interspace', Vanish can move incredibly quickly, straight up teleport short-to-medium distances, blur his visual image to appear invisible to make the illusion he is still where he started even though he is now right next to you. His major attack is to punch or kick into interspace gates, causing the blows to land on targets in a radius up to two hundred feet away. Finally, he can appear to walk through walls or have attacks pass through him by timing his dimensional teleports correctly.
Little is known about Vanish, though his powers over interspace are vaguely similar to the early Bronze Age Superhero named Vector. Vector died about 10-15 years ago saving New York from a Neutron Bomb.Is there a connection between the two beyond their powers? Only time will tell.
Stay tuned Champions fans! A full write up of the first issue is coming at you soon!
AD
Barking Alien
So how many disadvantage points (if any) did you give for being a mute telepath?
ReplyDeleteWho are the PCs' DNPCs and Hunteds? That's often half the game right there!
What's a DNPC?
DeleteDependant Non-Player Character. Usually a non-Super individual who the superhero has to worry about and protect and who often complicates their heroic career. Aunt May for Spiderman and Lois Lane for Superman are the two quintessential examples.
ReplyDeleteIn the last decade and especially over the last 5 years, this concept, once intrinsic to the Superhero genre, seems hardly prevalent at all. Consider the Avengers:
Many members of the team live in or often stay at the mansion and later the tower. Who are Captain America's DNPCs? All his friends and allies are either Superheroes or SHIELD agents. She-Hulk, Iron Man, the FF all have public identities. The idea of the DNPC and even the secret identity is becoming a thing of the past.
Look at the team above. Who would be in the supporting cast of a Robot, a Ghost, an orphan boy taken in by what is essentially Prof. X's school (Impact), a psychic soldier and two wandering martial artists? Only Vanish would feasibly have a normal home life somewhere, but his background and origin are currently a mystery.
And the absence of normal people and supporting casts is a large part of why I don't read modern comics.
DeletePerry White, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lana Lang, even Steve Lombardi and Morgan Edge made Superman much more interesting. Same with Aunt May, Mary Jane, Harry Osborne, Flash & Sha Shan Thompson, Liz Allen, Betty Brant, JJJ, etc.
I would be inclined to agree with you Matt except it isn't so alien to me (pun intended).
DeleteThe Legion of Superheroes was like this from day one. Most of the Legionnaires were dating other Legionnaires or Science Patrol officers. No one had or needed secret identities. There was a supporting cast (Laurel Kent, R.J. Brande, Dr. Gym'll), but they too were either super or were generally people who worked with the Legion and saw them constantly.
Yeah, but I never liked the Legion of Super Heroes. It's the only Silver Age DC Archive I don't have.
DeleteSounds like the secret identity is dependent upon there being weak people to protect through secrecy, so maybe that's why they're going out together?
ReplyDeleteNot sure exactly what you mean.
DeleteWhat I am getting at is that traditionally, we're used to seeing the private lives of superheroes as the same as the private lives of everyone else with the added complication of their dual identities. The default idea was, they live among us like normal people, but they aren't normal at all.
The modern default seems to imply that being a superheroes means you're part of a super community
You're super, your friends and sometimes even your family is super and so is your girlfriend/boyfriend.
I made a joke once about Hawkeye worrying that his enemies might try to get at him through his girlfriend. He was dating Spiderwoman. She can kick his ass.
I think that the idea of being able to keep a secret identity has lost a lot of verisimilitude over the decades due to social and especially technological changes, and thus it has been left aside along with the DNPCs. Instead, you have superheroes acting as media icons, living in their own celebrity environment. Which, right now, seems more credible, although not necessarily better.
DeleteBingo Miguel! Exactly what I'm talking about.
DeleteIf you want "credible," why would you be reading super hero comics? They're about the least credible or logical stories you could find.
DeleteInternally credible Matt. It needs only make sense within its own milieu to make perfect sense. ;)
Delete