Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 exptools; site ihuxw.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!ihuxw!blumberg
From: blumberg@ihuxw.UUCP (Marc R Blumberg)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Champions Character Creation
Message-ID: <1113@ihuxw.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Jul-85 20:09:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxw.1113
Posted: Fri Jul 12 20:09:15 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Jul-85 13:54:54 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 105

> In some ways this is one of the  biggest  difficulties  in  GMing
> Champions.   Certain  players are interested in nothing more than
> putting together the most efficient character  possible.   To  do
> this  they they bend, tweak and skrunch rules with careful trick-
> ery. 

I run across this problem in my campaign all the time. While point
crunching can be detrimental, it can also be used to EVERYONE's
advantage. As the GM, have you thought about looking over other
player's characters for ways to optimize them? Give them an EC if
they have related powers and have been playing within character
conception. Look over their skills, if they have more than one bought
with plusses, replace the plusses with group levels. If you are not
familiar with the various rules crocks (I'm currently compiling a list)
or just don't have the time, how about asking the point-crunching
player to look other the other characters for you? Some players are
actually willing to help their poor overworked GM.

I realize that this only brings the power level up across the board,
but it is very hard to reject a new character on the grounds that
it is 'too efficient.' Also, it is unfortunate if point-crunching is 
ALL your players are interested in. Depending on how much emphasis
you put on role-playing in your campaign, a point-crunched character
can be revised because it is "out of genre." Usually, point-crunching
leads to a looser character conception. If you are hard-nosed about
it, you can get the character changed without too many hard feelings.
Another way to reject certain powers is too simply eliminate them
from the campaign entirely. Let the player know that NOBODY can have
the power, NPCs included. Some powers to think twice about:

Telepathy (fully invisible effects), N-ray vision, Teleportation
(extradimensional, usable on others, at range), Damage Reduction,
Healing (reduced END), Anything (always on).

> This is not bad, you might think, because the  GM  has  the
> world  at  his  disposal and if the GM wishes, the character will
> always be defeatable.  While this is  generally  true,  there  is
> another  problem  and  that  is that other players, who might not
> have done this with their characters, will suffer from the  high-
> powered  villains and menaces they come against.  In addition, if
> they ever happen to combat their fellows, they  will  be  in  bad
> shape.   (Of  course,  the  supers never fight each other in your
> campaign, do they?) 

Of course they do, Marvel promotes this every issue. I have a question:
why can't said high-powered villain/menace be "fine-tuned" so that
he/she/it is particularly effective ONLY against the point-crunched
character? If you want to be nasty, find a power that only the point
crunched character has/hasn't, and design a villain who has an NND
attack! If the villain is created correctly (i.e., part of the hero's
origin) the player can't yell foul.

> In addition,  building  characters  this  way
> often  tends to throw believability and good character conception
> right out the window.  My question is, as GMs, do you have guide-
> lines for drawing the line between what is and isn't reasonable?

You've answered your own question. If you feel the character is
not believable, or played according to conception/genre, DON'T
ALLOW IT IN YOUR CAMPAIGN. Players generally need reasons for
character rejection, however, so look over the character carefully
and determine exactly what it is that you don't like. Remember,
the character can be revised.
 
> For example,  some people in my campaign are using the "Based  on
> Another  Power" limitation to buy 6 or more powers on the limita-
> tion, buy the END cost of the big power down to 0  and  then  buy
> off  all their END characteristic.  And the power is Telekinesis.
> Since there is no disadvantage to doing so,  the  Telekinesis  is
> always  on and thus the rest can be too.  And it's not so easy to
> just say the "big" power must have larger than 0 END cost,  since
> he might just buy it down to 1 and have almost as good an effect.
> Any suggestions?
> -- 
> 					--rick heli
> 					(... ucbvax!ucdavis!groucho!ccrrick)

You bet!! First of all, take another look at the limitation "Based on
Another Power." I think you'll find that it does not relieve the
smaller power from paying END (what is the limitation in that?).
With this correction, such characters will become huge END burners. 
Powers bought down to 0 END are frowned upon in my campaign. I have
this fear that one day the player will try to tack on 
Uncontrollable Continuous, and blow balance to hell. If you think
a limitation will not produce a disadvantage, don't allow it. We've
all seen UV vision, only usable at night, or Swimming, only in liquid.
I hope we've all rejected them. 

Ways to be nasty to characters with such powers: TK always on is
indeed disadvantageous. Roll randomly for objects/characters around the
person each phase, moving them in random directions. If the player
objects, tell him that to avoid his "wandering TK" he must always declare
where it is being directed (not that easy). Notice that if he is
stunned or unconscious, the power still works! Play this up when
he is being rescued/revived. Notice that no other player will investigate
the edge of the cliff/acid vat/atomic reactor with this character,
and very few rare china collectors will let him near their shops.

If players have all their powers based on a single power, then that
power should be the target of neutralization (very cheap at 3 pts.
per die) or even worse, power destruction. They will think twice
about tackling Stasis, with his TK-Neutralizing one-hex Damage Shield.
(6 pts. per d6!)

Finally, remember: villains can be point crunched, too.