Here's the current character sheet for Mirage:

...and here's what he looks like when he's invisible (I usually make a ghosted marker of the character):

dsumner wrote on May 9^th, 2010 at 3:21pm:


Thanks for the intel, dsumner.  I just checked with one of our players that has played decades of Champions.  I assumed he's probably played most of the published adventures, but he said they didn't; they made up their own stories.  Over the years I've picked up some Champions modules that looked interesting (or had cool art).  I already own The Blood and Dr. McQuark and The Coriolis Effect.  Some day I'm going to have to run convert them to V&V and run them for our group!   

Majestic wrote on May 10^th, 2010 at 7:42pm:


The books I named are the ones I think would easily converted to V&V. There's also the Circle and METE (it's for 1st edition), by Aaron Allston the would work well. There's a few others modules (Day of the Destroyer, Wrath of the Seven Horsemen, and ATLAS unleashed), that I liked, but I'm not sure how well they'd convert over though.

Also, there's  a book for GURPS Supers, alled Super Scum, that would convert over very easily. You can pick it up on the cheap.

#21 – It Begins – Adonis is baited by Shee-Ariel to accept an offer of riches from Doctor DNA in exchange for the Errants rendering their services in North America.  When the criminals arrive in Miami, Doctor DNA gives them genetic brainwashing pills to subtly silence troublesome people.  Days later, a sperm bank is broken into, but nothing appears to be disturbed.  Panther, Spectre, Sinder, Mirage, and new superheroes Excalibur and Batwing investigate at Horizon Research.  Though there are no signs of forced entry into the building, the door to the storage vault has been ripped from its hinges and they find a squashed cockroach inside the normally sterilized interior.  Broken seals show that storage cabinets inside were opened, but seals on individual frozen sample containers are intact and show no tampering.  The next day, Mirage apprehends drug-runner Roscoe Watt, who claims that 'Scuz' is the new crime boss in the city.  Sinder rescues a small private plane on fire over the nearby suburb of Malton, but pilot Gavin Hart appears to be hiding something; the three other passengers are unemotional and slow.  The Errants call an emergency meeting over concern that Shee-Ariel's recklessness (fireballing the plane) could bring unwanted attention; they decide to give a pill to Hart (as they did his companions).  When revisited by the heroes, he is flat and bland just like the others.  As the Errants give pills to more and more civilians, the problem gets out of hand.  Soon people all over Malton, even police officers, are zombie-like and have no personality.  Due to programming by Miragi, the affected people (even the elderly) all listen to the same electronic pop song, which is heard all over town.  Shee-Ariel, furious at the Errants for their incompetence and hoping to wipe out evidence, decides to destroy Malton.  The following evening, her alien Shredders set off demolitions at key locations while she wildly blasts fire from the sky.  As Justice Force arrives to stop her she torches an apartment complex, then detonates charges on the water tower, diverting the rescuers so that she can fly away.

Here's the marker I drew for Batwing (with a friendly bat from Terror By Night)...

#22 – The Plot Thickens – Doctor DNA oversees his factory, where he plans to produce enough pills to alter the genetic code of every living being on the continent.  The Errants scheme to eliminate Justice Force with a multi-phased plan.  With Malton a smoldering ruin, the team aids in the clean-up.  At night, as Carl Nasca (Spectre) goes to a movie with Jennifer Boyt, he is attacked by two Shredders!  He successfully wards off the savage aliens, disintegrating one and incapacitating the other.  Next, the gigantic Mongo, escorted by Cockroach, heads toward Miami and is intercepted by Excalibur and Batwing.  Despite much property damage, the adventurers subdue the two.  Downtown, Panther hears a scream and rushes to rescue a distraught girl, but she turns on him and attacks with a poisoned dagger!  The hero fends off the ambush from the young woman (Valeri, an Errant) and a Shredder, escaping without serious injury.  Through the media, Shee-Ariel demands a meeting with all local superheroes at a racetrack.  While the team waits there patiently, the criminals cause disasters all over the city to create diversions.  Batwing, Mirage, and Sinder depart to help the populace, while Spectre, Panther, and Excalibur remain.  In grand style Shee-Ariel and Scuz drive up; they are soon joined by Adonis, Magnetron, Miragi, Valeri, and three Shredders.  After a lengthy battle, the heroes force the villains to retreat.

The next character that I'm going to spotlight, Sinder, is an interesting fellow.  He is a PC of my brother-in-law Mark (the guy who played Spectre), and he has become his primary PC in the campaign.  He's played him - off and on - for nearly 20 years, both as an associate of Justice Force and the Guardians.

Now you wouldn't think this guy is very tough.  He's got pretty underwhelming stats other than Agility and Charisma (S9, E11, A21, I9, and C19), so that gives him very few Hit Points (7) and low Power (50).  With pretty much no defenses (he has Flame Defense, but nothing like Invulnerability, Armor, or anything to protect those 7 HP), he goes down in combat pretty easily.  It's a good thing we made him immortal from the start, as he's died (during combat) literally SIX times!

The amazing thing about this character (though he is a glass cannon) is the fact that he rolled Heightened Attack THREE times.  This is no big deal when you're level 1 or 2, but once you're up at 6th Level and higher, it really starts to pay off with some mega damage!  Now at 9th Level, he's adding a whopping 27 damage to all attacks!

One spooky thing about this character.  He created this character - like I said - back in the early 90's.  He rolled "Physical Handicap", and - almost as a throwaway (honestly without a lot of thought on any of our parts) - selected that Sinder would have a prosthetic left leg.  It never came up in combat (as a flaming character, he could fly), and we honestly hardly ever mentioned it.  One story I did, where the heroes had their memories displayed for each other by Dr. Destroyer, explained briefly how he'd lost the leg in a combine accident on a farm as a child, but other than that it really didn't come up in gameplay.

Then - nearly a decade later - somewhere around 2000, Mark had an accident.  He was riding his motorcycle in a lengthy charity ride with other law enforcement officers (Mark is a decorated police officer).  He was way up in Canada (in the middle of nowhere) when he hit a patch of gravel and laid his bike down.  He remembers looking across the highway and seeing his severed leg.  He ended up being airlifted to Seattle, and he ended up losing his left leg just under the knee.  He quickly (and quite miraculously) recovered, being back to work as a police officer (with a prosthetic) in something like six months, and went on to win further awards (even a national one).

We found it kind of strange that it ended up being exactly the limb he chose for Sinder.  His wife (now ex) was honestly kind of freaked out about it (thinking V&V is 'evil' because of it), but I wonder if maybe he wasn't (even subtly) being prepared for what was going to happen later in life.

In any event, it was an extremely strange coincidence; probably the weirdest I've ever seen in gaming.

Sinder's still an awesome character, and one he ends up playing occasionally (every few years).

Here's another (more recent) marker that we use for him when he's not flamed on (which could serve as a Victor Larson marker as well):

#23 – The Dawn of DNA – Doctor DNA delivers a recorded message that is broadcast on every TV and radio station around the world.  He explains that he is a benevolent conqueror of humanity, which he has been studying.  He invites all paranormals to join him, claims that the Errants were a diversion, and threatens to release the horror of his DNA Deficients on the world!  Cockroach reveals the location of the mastermind's Pill Factory outside Miami, so the vigilantes head there and enter via an abandoned mineshaft hidden in a cave.  The six men invade the complex, taking out many armed soldiers as they penetrate deeper and descend into the facility.  Doctor DNA confronts the heroes, but realizes that he is outmatched; unbeknownst to his opponents he switches bodies with scientist Ray Horn to avoid capture.  Slipping away, he quickly destroys all of his notes and work (including his only DNA Deficient), then escapes through a secret slide.  The vigilantes round up many guards and technicians and shut down the entire operation.

#25 – The Doctor is In – C.H.E.S.S. learns of recent activity on Nacht Island, and asks Justice Force to investigate.  Tempest, Spectre, Panther, Batwing, and Freeze journey to the location, entering limestone caves on the main island.  They discover that Doctor Apocalypse is attempting to reactivate his massive psionic generator, and this time the Destroyers are there to assist him.  The group demands that the powerful device be shut down, but the psychotic warlord refuses, explaining that he will use the heroes to power a colossal mind control ray.  The evil genius attacks the vigilantes, and is joined by Behemoth, Shapeshifter, Iron Maiden, Ratman, Electrocutioner, and Annihilator.  The adventurers hold their own in the ensuing battle and are able to seriously damage the psychic equipment, but the villains prove too powerful for them and force the champions to evacuate.

#26 – Battle for Wicklow – Devastating property damage from a superpowered rampage brings the team to Germany.  Spectre, Tempest, Batwing, and Freeze follow a path of destruction to the edge of Wicklow Forest, where they hear tales of mighty paranormals with immense strength.  Eventually they encounter Valcanus, Death Adder, and Balgren, and after a brutal clash they take down the criminals.  Appreciative German authorities take the lawbreakers into custody.

Astute observers will notice that I was setting our heroes up to know who those other three heroes were (Meganaut, Telecomm, and Imperial) for the upcoming "Devil's Domain".  IIRC in the module proper they were based out of Miami too (just like Justice Force), so it was kind of fun to have a 'hero vs. hero' encounter with them.   

#29 – Pre-Emptive Strike – G.I.A.N.T. brings Justice Force to Kansas, where Titan Missile Silo Seventeen was recently attacked from within.  No treason or sabotage appears to have occurred, and yet a two-ton bunker door has disappeared and two S.A.C. officers were killed.  Mirage, Freeze, Spectre, and Tempest arrive early in the morning and meet General McGough in the bunker.  Shortly after, a large, black, opaque rectangular doorway appears and Voltoid, a quick, boxy android, comes through and attempts to take control of the launch computer.  The heroes swiftly down the intruder, then moments later stop a Trojan I robot that flies through.  The four adventurers step through the gateway and find themselves in a large antechamber aboard the strange, alien spacecraft Superior.  They are attacked by the Guardians of the Gate, a Flame Dragon and Frost Dragon, and knock out both enormous beasts.  The group then enters a pyramid-shaped area, where all but Spectre are incapacitated by knockout gas.  A short time later the veteran vigilante falls to humans Vendetta and Sprite, while the alien Tympanus observes.  Superior, surrounded entirely by an irregular iron asteroid, floats inside a distant nebula, far from Earth.

Thanks for posting these, Majestic. These are fun to read. Your most recent posts are covering the same ground as my current campaign--sort of, since we're in the middle of an "opposite" rendition of the Pre-Emptive Strike module.

#31 – First Encounters – The tabloid National Inquisitor contacts the team, offering a big donation to charity if they will look for their missing reporter Johnny Dugan, who disappeared investigating the story of the Wisconsin Lizard Man.  Tempest, Spectre, Freeze, Kamikaze, and Microtitan, as well as reporter Sheila Baynes and photographer Kyle Stewart, journey to Big Rock, Wisconsin.  They meet local storyteller Old Jed, who tells tales of a deadly Lizard Man that guards the large rock in the center of town and catches lone victims in the woods.  The rock, which used to be worshipped by Native Americans, is reputed to be a meteorite that glows during some stellar phenomena, and anyone who tries to damage or move it supposedly falls under a terrible curse.  The adventurers check out the massive, black rock formation and search for the missing man, but find only Dugan's glasses and a strange footprint in the forest.  Old Jed leads the heroes and reporters in canoes down the Rock River to an old Indian burial ground.  As they near Rock Island, the group is attacked by a squad of Logrellian Shock Troopers, who drop nets from above and target the civilians.  The highly trained alien warriors are a fanatical fighting force, and as each are defeated they vaporize themselves with Personal Disintegrators.  After a short but intense battle, a number of the attackers retreat.  An unconscious Dugan is found nearby, and a brilliant flash of light and thunderous noise signal the departure of a Logrellian scout ship.

By the way, I have no idea where the "Heightened Reflexes" came from (not sure what power was rolled originally), and from the looks of him I think Excalibur was rolled up using only Skills.