The WASP War, an Atlantaverse Update

 Strap in, folks, this is the summary of 8 years of roleplaying. Back in 2013 I started a new Champions campaign with my oldest sons and many of their friends. They players have changed and everyone followed my 'every players has multiple characters' rule, and we ended up with multiple games with multiple GMs in a shared universe, so there have been a LOT of PC heroes! The 8 years of real time have equaled about 8 years of game time, for various fun reasons involving session timing. Because of a statement made by a player in 2014 we started calling this sprawling shared shared campaign the Atlantaverse.

  When I started the campaign I made a new, unique setting of an Earth like ours that had minor history divergences in 1801 and 1908 and a major one in 1938. By the time the first game started in-universe in 2013 the Atlantaverse had superheroes, supervillains, mages, aliens, and trans-dimensional visitors. The United States in-universe is a parliamentary system with 3 major and 7 minor political parties. And so on. All told with the contributions of players and other GMs the Atlantaverse grew so big, so complex, and so interconnected that my licensed setting book will be released in 2022.

  But one of the antagonists in the Atlantaverse, the first villains they ever faced, is WASP. WASP is a mysterious international organization that combines organized crime, terrorism, radical ideology, and cybercrime. Their uniformed agents are about on par with the soldiers of standing armies but armed with bleeding-edge weapons, allowing them to go toe-to-toe with any conventional forces and win.  Their elite troops are bionically and genetically enhanced and have even better armor and weapons, making them equal to low-level supervillains. Divided into cells that make it virtually impossible to attack the organization as a while WASP has been a thorn in the side of the heroes from literally Day One of the campaign. Their secret origin is available to my patrons on my Patreon page (see the sidebar).

  So the players all agreed that their long-erm goal was to take down all of WASP. This weekend, they succeeded. This is a summary of what the in-universe press calls the WASP War.

Atlantaverse: Massive Update

  Hello, all! Over the last 60 days we've done about 12 Champions sessions from San Mateo to Atlanta to Teens. Some of these had play reports on the Discord, others for Patrons only, and a few will be in upcoming podcasts. Here are some of the highlights.

Operation SKYBROOM: Off screen many NPC heroes and 2 PC heroes are involved in a United Earth Space Defense project to clear out low-orbit debris to make the launch of new orbital gear safer and to make more frequent trips to and from Bifrost Station (the low orbit UESD station) possible.

The San Francisco Bay Supervillains: The heroes of San Mateo are contending with a new team of supervillains, many with mental powers. A series of fights in Sacramento recently occurred and seemed to be draws each time.

Major Battle in Seattle: A new team of supervillains appeared in Seattle in November and stunned the area by defeating Amazing Lass II! The Amazing Family has not issued a statement.

Teen Champions: The teen heroes fo Atlanta finally defeated MasterMind and his minions, rescued the supervillain Cricket from blackmail (she is now in rehabilitation training with ICICLE). While taking out MasterMind they learned he was using gear from the vault of a long-abandoned WASP nest. Inside they found a stasis tube and opened it, freeing Amazing Man, Jr, a sidekick who vanished in 1971! Amazing Man, Jr is now at the Atlanta Temporal Displacement Counseling Center and, like Cricket, will be with the Teen Champions for a while.
  Meanwhile TechnoShaman has access to a WASP computer node and will attempt to transport the team into cyberspace in a bid to be the first people to ever hack a WASP computer system!

The Champions of Atlanta: Their War Against WASP might be entering the final phase! WASP sent an elite strike team consisting of 20 flight troops, 30 heavy troops, and the supervillains Iron Wasp, Steel beetle, Tarantula, and Killer Bee after the team. No avail as the Champions defeated the WASP team (after a long slug fest of epic proportions, Truly a Jack Kirby Two Page Spread worthy fight!). In an amazing blow to WASP the Champions were able to figure out that WASP computer nodes are based on alien technology. Working with a team of trustworthy superheroes they have sent what they know to ICICLE. ICICLE is now working on a program in their lab on Asgard Station (the geosynchronous UESD station over the Greenwich Mean Line) and believe they will be able to access the WASP Net within weeks! Animus is standing by for a major data breach attack on WASP ASAP.
  Operation: SKYBROOM is a cover mission allowing as many space-capable heroes to be in position to defend Asgard as possible.

Next Session: The Teen Champions enter Cyberspace!

Play Report: Atlantaverse Cleveland

   As a change of pace the crew decided to play villains for a while! We started off with the following:

Sam is playing Singularity, a cyborg with an special senses and built-in weapons and a huge chip on his shoulder about how he is 'the future of humanity'. Not always in touch with reality.

Nick is playing Electron Davis, frustrated candidate for the city council who has sworn to use his new electrical powers to make the citizens too dim to elect him pay the price for their foolishness. Underwent tricky procedures to get powers and he isn't quite right anymore.

Jack is playing Captain Claw, whose father, grand-father, and great-grand-father were all professional henchmen to supervillains. Between his own 2 years henching and the gear, trophies, and loot of his family he's been able to cobbled together a decent costume and weapon, the Claw. He hopes to become the first generation of his family to have henchmen rather than being one.

Atlantaverse: Blink

   I finally get to play a new Champions character!

Meet Blink

DM Play Report, Champions 6e: Atlantaverse - Pulp

The adventurers:

Jack: Francis Xavier 'Frank' O'Brien, called 'Philosopher' by cops and criminals alike. An International Courier and P.I. based in Chicago, he specializes in cases involving ghosts and magic. Can see auras and his gun can fie 'ghost bullets'.

Sam: Edward Oliver Wilson Arthur John 'Hammy' Hamm-Smythe, called 'The Mask'.  Amateur archaeologist and professional polo player. Wields numerous magical artifacts.

    Edmund. Hammy's valet is Edmund, a gorilla of Gorillaville in Africa. Human-level intelligence and speaks French. Other seem to never notice he is a gorilla until it is pointed out to them.

Nick: Grigore Zugravescu, Carpathian nobleman called 'The Baron'. Master of mystical 'sunshine boxing' techniques and a vampire hunter.

Atlantaverse: Full of Dread

   We sat down for some old-school superhero action and ran the new Discord server for it.

The Heroes:

Jack- Sirius the Winderdog. Exposed to a meteorite the faithful hound was imbued with incredible powers, keen intelligence, and a thirst for justice.

Sam- Emerald Guardian. Billionaire. Aristocrat. Inventor. Man of Action. Leader of the Emerald Guardsmen he uses his base on Emerald Island as a crime-fighting headquarters as he fights evil across the globe.

Nick- Phoenix. A powerful magician that can assume the fiery form of the phoenix he opposes all dastardly deeds.

The Feel of Different Games; an emotional post

  If you aren't aware, I run and play a variety of game systems. The list of current game systems I alone run is:
  AD&D 1e (with house rules)
  AD&D 2e Skills & Powers
  Champions 6e
  Rolemaster FRP
  (this week) Warhammer: Only War, etc.

The systems I play in currently are:
  D&D 5e
  CoC
  Warhammer: Only War, etc.

We also have a casual 'Traveller, anyone?' game, a Starfleet Battles tournament, and an addiction to Dominion, Scythe, and Seven Wonders. I'd mention Catan, but my wife has an unbroken 21 game winning streak, so....

  Recently someone asked me,
  "Why so many different systems?"
  At the time I gave my usual reply,
  "Different systems excel at different things."

  I think I was wrong. Here's why.
  I played D&D 5e and had an epiphany.

  My oldest son is running a tight 5e game and we had a raucous session full of ambushes, raids, surprise, and fighting with a side of politics. Afterwards I said,
  "Reminds me of Jim Henson's game."

Note: Jim 'The Muppet Master' Henson was an army comrade of mine at Ft. Bragg in the 80's. No relation to the puppeteer.

  Thing is, Jimbo only ever ran one system. Palladium Fantasy.

Note: once when I was very sick I spent 3 months converting my AD&D 1e campaign (started in 1979) to Palladium FRP out of the boredom of being cooped up.

  That's when it hit me.
  5e is a lot like Palladium FRP: Odd, silly races; goofy, unbalanced spells; oddball classes; math that doesn't quite work; still a ton of fun.
  Mind you, I think this is a compliment!

  But many of us talk about the 'feel' of a particular system. I love HERO system for superheroes; I can make any hero I can imagine, the action feels superheroic, and the flexibility is unmatched. But no matter how many times I try I don't like HERO for fantasy.

Note: I also converted my AD&D 1e campaign to HERO once with the idea of only playing one system. Nah.

  I love Traveller, but have no interest in using it for anything else. D6? Amazingly flexible system and I love Star Wars, Ghostbusters, etc. But....

  So I talked about it with the lads and we compared it to books. Writing is writing; English is English. But a crime novel is different from a caper book. James Bond is worlds apart from The Destroyer.
  It was when we compared it to movies, too, that is gelled.
  Want to emulate the old pulp fantasies or ERB?
  AD&D.
  Want to emulate JRRT?
  Rolemaster.
  CJ Cherryh?
  Traveller.
  HPL?
  CoC.
  you get the idea.

  But then we talked about how much 5e emotionally "feels like" Palladium FRP and I got it.
  Beastmaster.
  Palladium FRP and 5e are Beastmaster. Kinda' goofy, kinda' nonsense, but a rip-roaring good time.

  So pop some popcorn, get ready for monstervision, and play some Beastmaster.

Pulp Adventures and a general update

Inside Baseball
The contract that keeps the lights on was not renewed so I have been looking for a new contract/gig/job. Unfortunately, blogging suffers first. Sorry for the light posting

In General
We have continued to play the Seaward and Blackstone campaigns (updates coming) and Champions. The big reveal from Seaward?
The Men of Varied Colors are a type of genie!

Pulp Champions
  When I started the Atlantaverse back in 2013 all I wanted was a setting for my sons and their friends to play Champions. Two of the kids were from a family that thinks D&D is iffy but superheroes are cool and I appreciate but dislike the official Champions Universe (Why? Status quo).
  Well, things got out of hand since all 9 players wanted to jazz band so we quickly had a ton of backstories. I had made a pseudo-history for the alternate dimension of the Atlantaverse (where the US has a commonwealth-style parliamentary system, BTW) that touched on numerous topics ranging from alien invasions to secret cabals to where socks go when they vanish from the dryer (yes, really).
The the crew wanted to play street-level guys in Hudson City so I stole the map, made new hereoes, villains, and groups, and off we went. And then....
  Well, you get the idea. Long story short I signed a license with HERO (God bless them and their business) and am writing the basic setting down in a presentable format.
(Artists I hope to Kickstart a future full art version).

  So what did the hardcore central 3 players demand?
  Pulp adventures in the past! They wanted to be in the Atlantaverse back when radio was king so they can be at ground zero for the Secret History of my superhero universe.

My reply?

Atlantaverse: Psychotronic World Building

  When I am doing worldbuilding for fantasy games I may spend too much time on verisimilitude - making the world at least internally consistent. Seaward, Blackstone, the Patchwork Lands - I work to make them sensible, consistent and familiar without being boring. But there are always little things, like the steam-powered war moose construct.

  Now that I am making a Champions setting I am in full-on Psychotronics mode!

  Psychotronic is a slang term used in parts of the movie buff community to describe a certain sort of movie. I've never found a good universal definition of what 'Psychotronic' means that covers all the bases, but here I go with my own idiosyncratic one;

Psychotronic: 1) the blending of genres, typically with low budgets

                       2) Low-budget exploitation films

                       3) Films with very non-traditional manner of storytelling

Champions: The Atlantaverse - WASP

ICICLE CLASSIFICATION: RESTRICTED

ONLY SANCTIONED, CLEARED, OR ACCOMPANIED PERSONNEL MAY VIEW

WASP OVERVIEW

Classification: WASP is a Criminal Terrorist organizetion and is believed to be the largest and most powerful criminal terrorist organization in the world.

Confirmed Origins: ICICLE can confirm that as of 1981 WASP existed as a mature, global organization.

Unconfirmed Origins: The Strangers claim that WASP is an outgrowth of the fabled International Crime League founded in London in 1887. Various superheroes claim to have fought WASP as WASP as early as 1968.

Name and Meaning: WASP is no longer considered to be an acronym; various internal leaders assign local backronyms (such as 'War, Assassination, Strength, and Power', 'We Always Stand Proud', etc.). The meaning is ultimately unknown.

Estimated Members: Non-combatant: ~1 million. Combatant: ~200,000

Confirmed Structure: WASP is organized into Nests, Cities, Areas, Zones, Regions, Spheres, and the Globe.

Champions: The Atlantaverse - StarWatch

  because what kind of superhero universe doesn't have spacecops?

StarWatch

History of the Watch

120,000 years ago a group of civilizations near the galactic core were saved by the actions of a member of the Galaxars. Formerly rivals these three races banded together to create a group for the Milky Way similar to the Galaxars. The Galaxars themselves, always willing to assist such efforts, helped create the technology for the StarRods and train the first members of the Watch.

Within 10,000 years StarWatch had grown to cover the Milky Way.

Members of the Watch

StarRanger- The backbone of the Watch they are armed with StarRods, protected by their uniforms, and have individual bases with support staff. There are slightly more than 300,000 StarRangers at this time.

StarRangers have ranks: regular, 'sergeant', 'lieutenant', 'captain', and 'major'. Sergeants are senior Rangers and while they formally supervise no one regular rangers obey them on joint missions. Lieutenants supervise groups of 10 rangers (including themselves); Captains supervise groups of 100 (including themselves); Majors supervise groups of 1,000 (including themselves).

StarMarshal- These members of the Watch specialize in battle; they have more weapons and better defenses. Each StarRanger major commands a detachment of 10 StarMarshals.

StarScout- Specialists in stealth and speed, these members of the Watch are less heavily armed but are much faster and have sophisticated stealth capabilities. Each StarRanger major commands 10 StarScouts.

StarMedic- These members have advanced skills in care and medicine at the expense of attacks. Each StarRanger major commands 10 StarMedics.

StarWarden- Often semi-retired StarRangers, the Wardens maintain and guard the Watch's various prisons. Each major has 10 StarWardens.

StarCommander- These are the leaders of the Watch based in one of the three StarWatch Command centers. There are 30 'colonels' and 3 'generals' each split evenly between the 3 bases. Each of them has his own commands of 30 StarRangers, 3 StarMarshals, 3 StarScouts, and 3 StarMedics. Each base also has 30 StarWardens.

Others- StarWatch has a fair number of support staff that are not members of the Watch itself but still are loyal employees. Each base has a minimum of 3 staff; pilot, mechanic, communications. Some bases (in busy sectors; the base of a Captain; etc.) have up to 30 staff doing everything up to public relations and charity coordination. The three Bases each have an average of 1,000 staff members. All told the Watch has more than 1,000,000 staff members.

Staff positions, especially in remote areas, often serve as a recruiting ground for new StarRangers.

Organization

Regions- StarWatch divides the galaxy into 4 regions. The Core Region consists of the 20,000 light year diameter center of the entire galaxy. The thee bases are placed equidistantly around the perimeter of the Core and they share responsibility for the region. The rest of the galaxy is evenly divided into wedge-shaped regions, the inner edge of which is centered on the base responsible for it. These outer regions have what a human would call 'letter designators' that roughly correspond to D Region, R Region, and U Region; these are based on the names of the founding races. 1/3^rd of StarWatch is assigned to each region.

[Note: the solar system is less than 100 light years spinward ['clockwise'] inside R Region from the boundary with U Region.]

Sectors- Each region is divided into 100,000 sectors. These are designated in such a way that would translate into English as 'U-9357' or 'R-84231'. While each sector averages about 1,000,000 stars each this can vary greatly – a sector on the galactic rim halfway between two arms that holds no spacefaring race may be vast in distance and have 2,000,000 stars or more while a sector close to the core on the main of an arm with a handful of spacefaring races might have 500,000 stars and be a fraction of the volume.

Earth is at the almost-center of Sector R-77975.

Champions: The Atlantaverse

I have been running a Champions campaign for about 4-5 years, now, and am making it 'more official'.
Since the campaign grew from 'dead average points heroes in Atlanta' to add 'street level in Hudson City (i.e., Jersey), 'high points in Vibora Bay' and now my 4th son is running 'mid level in San Mateo' we're calling it the Atlantaverse.

Here's some background!

Street Level Champions Play Report: Two Down

  Sat down with the kids today and played an afternoon game.
  We are using the Hudson City: The Urban Abyss supplement for a setting. I am using some of the villains and heroes, plus my own.
  Hudson City is an amazing book and one of the best supplements I have ever seen for any game.
  The clan and I played a short intro against street gangs a few days back, but this is the first 'non-intro' session.

A Superhero Book is Coming: A Sneak Peek

  The Fun Lads and I have been working on a new superhero book for months. Here is a sneak peek at one of the characters.

Freebird
His Story- Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard Hazzard (or  just 'Beau') was born in rural Alabama near Bakerhill the oldest of five children born to Jeb Stuart 'Stu' Hazzard and Roberta Leeanne 'Bobbi Lee' (Macon) Hazzard. His father worked his own farm and pulled second shifts at a chicken processing plant to pay off the mortgage while his mother played organ in church and organized free meals for new mothers, the sick, and the needy throughout the county.
  He worked on the farm from as soon as he could walk and developed a knack for repairing machinery with 'make do' parts and tools. He was fiercely protective of his younger siblings and was soon known as a good fighter and for his strength.
  He did well in school and would have had better than decent grades if he hadn't preferred hunting, fishing, and working on cars to homework.
  At about age 16 he realized that puberty was a bit different for him. By 17 he knew he was superhuman and soon learned how tough and strong he was, as well as his ability to fly. He reined it in for years until, just after graduating high school a fire at the state fair threatened scores of people. He seized a 1,000 water tank and doused the flames with it while flying, an act captured on dozens of cameras.
  A bystander referred to him as 'that freebird lookin' good ole boy' and the name stuck.

What he looks like- In some ways he is so nondescript as to defy description. He is a man in his early 20's with brown hair, brown eyes, a muscular build without looking like a bodybuilder, and a perpetual smile. He never wears a mask, but is almost never recognized.
  The closest thing he has to a 'costume' is what he typically wears when expecting trouble: steel-toed work boots, jeans, a t-shirt with an American flag, and a confederate battle flag bandanna over his hair.

What he can do- He is one of the strongest and toughest superhumans in the world, maybe the strongest and toughest. He is immune to almost all diseases, all known toxins, and radiation. He can fly at speeds up to mach 12. His senses are only as good as a normal man, but he is a skilled observer with a lifetime of hunting experience.
  He is an excellent mechanic and craftsman, a decent tracker, and has a lot of experience with people. He is a skilled fighter with a lot of experience before he gained powers.
  A life-long hunter, he is a savvy opponent who will take his time to study a foe, search for traps, recon all possible exits, etc. He is much more stealthy than most assume and is quite capable of sneaking up to within arm's reach of even an alert foe.

What he's like- He was raised to be a Southern gentleman, and it shows. He is unfailingly polite,  uses 'sir' and 'ma'am' as appropriate, will never swear in public or in front of women or children, and will never lie. He will never cheat, steal, or rob anyone. He has a strong sense of honor and will keep his word. He will also defend his honor and one of the worst mistakes you can make is to lie to, cheat, rob, or betray him.
  He judges others by their words and deeds, not on appearance education, or wealth. That being said, he is wary of Northerners and urbanites.
  He loves helping people for its own sake and will never seek out attention, the press, or accolades. He is very selfless and giving of his time and attention, especially to children.
  He is aware that others sometimes mistake his dress and drawl for ignorance or stupidity and will play that to his own advantage.

GM Report: Champions on the Street

  I have been making noises about starting another Champions campaign for years. The last three I ran were all high-point supers games, one akin to the Legion of Super-Heroes where every character had to e capable of surviving deep space and FTL travel somehow.
 This time? Street level!

  I sat down with  he three players, Jack, Sam, and Nick, and we agreed on a point range (175 points, 50 complications), Normal Characteristics for no points, and no equipment points for PCs. We also decided we wanted a gritty, hardcore vibe, like Punisher. I finally get to use the amazing supplement Hudson City: The Urban Abyss. If you do any game set in the contemporary world, get that supplement!

Characters
Warlord- Jack made a melee combat specialist that uses sword, akin to Deathstroke, but lower points. The usual 'vigilante mix' of stealth, streetwise, etc. Minor contacts. Background of being a professional killer.

Wyvern- Sam made a former sniper with a drinking problem (inside joke) with the 'vigilante mix' of skills, minor contacts, etc. No real melee ability, but excellent sniping and pistol skills.

Wizard- Nick went toward a Dove build and is subverting the system; very skills heavy, all defensive martial arts, not killing attacks, etc. He's a normal guy that wants to make a difference. He has a top-notch police contact.

Background
  The various members either returned to their home or always lived in Hudson City. Warlord is obsessed with his mission, so he lives rough in empty warehouses, etc. Wyvern crashes in a flophouse. Wizard has a small condo. Their various contacts, streetwise checks, etc. pointed them all to a potential showdown between street gangs near Club 20, a nightclub popular with Hudson University students in the Forsythe neighborhood.
  The Carp gang (once the Carpenter Street Warriors) and the 21 gang (once the 21 Chains gang) had been engaged in low-level feuds over the drug trade around the club for months and both were facing the spectre of being too small to continue, so they were planning a final showdown.

The Adventure
  Each player told me in the pre-game that their character was going to scout the location of the probable fight in the afternoon, about 2. I have never seen a meet-cute come together on its own so smoothly!They all made excellent perception rolls so they all spotted each other! They also saw 4 Carps and 4 21s lurking in alleys across Moss Street from each other, probably prepping for the fight.
  Wyvern tried to snatch a lone 21 who was a block away, but his total lack of martial arts led to him getting stabbed before he shot the 21! The crew in the alley ran out and brought their comrade back, but the Carps took the opportunity to prepare an ambush. The vigilantes moved in, too. As the Carps faced down the 21s, Wyvern sniped a carp, initiating a firefight between the gang members.As the gang members wounded each other or downed each other Warlord waited, then leapt from the roof he was on among the 21s - his first blow severed the gun arm of a 21 and put him down.
  Wyvern downed another Carp and drew fire from the last one on his feet as Warlord gutted the last 21. Wizard closed with the last Carp and easily disarmed him, then kept him engaged with dodges, etc. until Wyvern put him down.

Post
The PCs met up, exchanged contact info, and set up some meeting points. Since they crippled two gangs at once, met without the super-cliched 'superheroes always fight when they first meet' I gave them 2 character points each.

Overall
A ton of fun was had for an intro adventure. We will be working on out-of-band activities and such for a week.

Play Report: First Game in the Dosmend Campaign for HERO System

  I love Champions and the HERO system. I've been playing Champions since it came out and it is my default superhero system. HERO is my default system for damn near everything that isn't fantasy or horror.
  Recently Son #4 told us that phrase that all people who play superhero games both love and dread.
 "Play anything you want".

Play Report: Once Again, I am a Hero in Miami

 My third son started a new campaign of Champions last night. I am one of the players. This is a play report, so no editing.

The Setting
About 3 years previously the world was swept by a shimmering wall of energy 7 miles high. This silvery-blue wall sorta' resembled the aurora, moved at about 1,000 mph, and seems to have also penetrated through the ground. An analysis of video, reports, etc. shows that it originated near Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The cause remains a mystery.
  Some very few people fell sick as soon as they wall passed through them, but this may have been hysteria. Everyone else reported nothing but a mild tingling sensation.
  Since the Wave/Event/whatever things have changed. Old legends have come to life; some people suddenly could develop their skills and intellects to amazing levels; and some few have powers that defy the laws of science.
  The players all start in the Miami Metro

More On My Champions Game - the Haunted Cemetary

  I will be having another sit-down session in my Champions of Atlanta campaign soon. 90% of the game is PBeM. But I wanted to share the villains coming up because they are all song-based.

NOTE: Spoilers follow - no players read past here!

The Villains: Here is a list of the bad guys -
  The Children of the Sun: The mooks are all advance scouts from the Riders, the disembodied intelligences of a long-dead alien race that take over recently dead sentient bodies (i.e., Zombies From SPAAAAAAAACE!). Their living bodies were destroyed in a massive solar flare. They are based on this song.

There are 25 of these guys, all based on the Zombie entry from the Champions bestiary with a higher INT.

  The Old Man Down The Road: A powerful sorcerer that uses American hoodoo magic, He has been enslaved and forced to use his magic for the Big Bad. Skilled with divination, he also has a range of combat magic that can confuse and befuddle with one or two lethal spells. Based on this song.

  The Lonely Man: Apprentice to the Old Man Down the Road, the Lonely Man is another practitioner of hoodoo. He focuses on invisibility, illusions, and misdirection. He is based on this song.

Nemesis: An incredibly tough extra-dimensional being summoned by the Big Bad, the Nemesis appears to be an absence, a blackness, a hole in reality in the shape of a massive, tentacled, tiger-like beast. Fearsome in direct combat, Nemesis can also very literally eat your courage. It is based on this song.

Baron Cimetiere: A powerful Loa, Baron Cimetiere was summoned by the Big Bad to lead the Children of the Sun and remove certain obstacles. The Baron is, essentially, a super-strong, super-dextrous ninja who is also undead. If he bites you he can drain your lifeforce! Based on this song.

Locomotive Breath: The favorite henchman of the Big Bad, Locomotive Breath is Mean Ron, former King of the Evil Hobos, who can be read about in much more detail here. Based on this song.

  The Big Bad: I will not go into great detail about the villain behind all this who calls himself the Necromancer to hide his true identity (that is for a future post!). For now, just listen to the song he's based on.

  Anyone have more suggestions?

The Shuffling Madness of Locomotive Breath

All Players in the Champions of Atlanta Campaign-
  SPOILERS!!

  Ahem.
  I just tricked superhero team one (Crusader, Gale, Alien Hunter, Nova, Mandible, Skywave, Ellipses, and Dierdre) into boarding Prof. Impossible's 1970's era spaceplane and being sent, on autopilot, to the north pole of the Moon.

  But that is for another time.

  In the meantime team two (Flaming Hammer, Tombstone, Forest Warrior (actually Ghost-like Warrior of the Celestial Forest), Kaleidoscope, Thunderclap, Nighthawk, Bone, and Bob Perkins-Defender of the Universe) are investigating the strange disappearances around Oakland Cemetery. The homeless report to Bone (King of the Good Hobos) that homeless and petty criminals have fled the vicinity after several of each have gone missing, including one memorable incident where a minor drug dealer was dragged, screaming, into the sewers by something Bullets Couldn't Stop.
  The team is has hints that these things are related to the mysterious phrase uttered four months ago by the dying StarRnager Url/Matosk who said 'the Riders are coming' just before he died and his Power Rod selected a new StarRanger.
  What is going on?
  The Necromancer, an evil mystic, is conducting experiments, that's what! He is trying to fuse living flesh with both undead flesh and machinery in the hopes that the result will be something as new, a controllable minion that cannot be stopped by machine or magic! He has called in several favors and taken out a third mortgage on his soul to 'lease' the services of a powerful evil spirit who calls himself Baron Cimetiere - this dark loa inhabits the bodies of the recently dead as a sort of super-zombie: tough, fast, and terrifyingly smart. The baron is behind the recent disappearances.
  The Necromancer, though, is almost finished with his creation. he has taken Mean Ron, former King of the Hobos (a foul tyrant who lost power when Bone arrived), and transformed him into something rather odd.
  The Necromancer was never very stable; his new pacts have driven him even further around the bend. In addition to never wondering why only Mean Ron has survived any of his procedures (unknown to anyone but Mean Ron's late mother he is the illegitimate son of 1970's supervillain Iron Ron) he has grafted Ron with the machinery he had at hand - an abandoned train from the 1860's, formerly of the Southern Railroad History Museum.
  While Ron survived the transformation his mind isn't doing so well. When he realized the extent of the changes and the reality of his new existence he went even crazier. Now he spends his time wandering the sewers and drainage tunnels during the day, haunting back alleys and lonely lots at night, and humming to himself. And it is always the same song...





  If the party gets past the Baron they will face the transformed Ron who now calls himself Locomotive Breath

Champions: Flashback to William, the Strongest Man in the World

  Earlier I wrote about the very creative character from the first Champions campaign I played in. Another very creative member of the party was my buddy Gregg. Gregg liked what I called 'simple, yet extreme, characters'. He had a tendency to make characters so over-the-top they were terrifying and yet so simple, direct, and interestingly flawed you wanted him to play them and play alongside them.
  The character of his I remember best was William. I have recreated him here in 6th edition HERO as I remember him as a beginning character.

  William
  Background/History: William's parents were simple, rural Kentuckians. They didn't have a great deal of money, but they were devoted to their children. When their son, William, was born he was a typical, healthy boy. He grew abnormally quickly and was freakishly strong. Concerned at how others treated him his parents moved to as remote an area as possible and raised him in near seclusion.
  Eventually a rabidly anti-mutant terrorist group attacked his family. Despite his great strength William was unable to save his family and fled before the terrorists and their anti-mutant robots. He chanced across the Victory Squad who helped him defeat the robots and sheltered him. He soon joined their team. In his 'secret identity' is is, effectively, a ward of the hero Crimson. While most of the world believes the huge superhero to be a grown man he is, in fact, barely 15 years old.
  Personality/Motivation: William is a typical 15 year old boy; he is rambunctious, emotional, easily distracted, and sometimes forgetful. But he was raised to be honest, just, courteous, and respectful and he honors his slain parents by doing his best to be a good person. He is essentially illiterate and knows little of television, the internet, etc. but he is a good judge of character and is no fool, no matter how many think him to be one.
  His parents were very careful to teach him to control his strength so he is usually very careful not to break things (he has no limitations based on his incredible strength).
  Because of his youth and the loss of his parents seeing innocent people, animals, etc. harmed can cause him to lose his temper and attack someone with all him might.
  Quote: "You shouldn't ought'er have done that." clobber!
  Powers/Tactics: William is strong and tough. Very strong. He is very resistant to physical damage. And he is very, very strong. He can also leap fair distances. But mainly he is very, very, very strong. On the other hand he his defenses against energy attacks are fairly low and he has no unusual defenses (like flash defense, etc.) or life support. But man is he strong!
  He is an unsophisticated fighter; left to his own devices he will simply close with the foe that looks toughest and swing until they go down. Of course, this is typically very effective. He does take instructions well and the Victory Squad is very good at setting up foes for William to take down quickly while also protecting him from energy projectors and mentalists.
  Appearance: William stands 7' 2" tall and is massively built with broad shoulders, a deep chest, and huge muscles everywhere. He has brown eyes, sandy brown hair, and weighs about 500 lbs. He typically dresses in bib overalls and heavy work boots.

  William has a very respectable PD 35/30 and, of course, a 20d6 punch!! During play villains would far rather engage anyone to avoid getting hit by him. On the other hand anyone with a taser could, in time, bring him down.

  Next time: the energy projector.