Accessory - Dragon Magazine #111.pdf - Index of

and other organizations, and by Cyclops’s
telepathic awareness that he gained from
close contact with Jean Grey.
Class 1000 adventures
If her existence could be hidden from the
interstellar empires and Earth’s heroes at
large, Phoenix might find adventure interacting
with other equally powerful beings
— among them Molecule Man, Odin,
Zeus, the Celestials, Death, Eternity,
the In-Betweener, Korvac, Mephisto,
the Elders of the Universe, Ego,
Thanos, and Galactus. Note that several
of these beings are supposed to be dead —
but this, of course, could be altered.
The MARVEL SUPER HEROES game
begins to lose its balance as a character’s
abilities enter the Class 1000 level, but
with the proper restrictions even the
mightiest characters can be played. In the
case of Phoenix, most of her powers are
balanced by the danger of turning into
Dark Phoenix (and being turned into an
NPC run by the Judge). The player who
uses Phoenix should be finely aware of the
responsibility that comes with endless
power; indeed, Phoenix herself was in the
habit of applying an upper limit to her
power use (assumed here to be on the
Unearthly level).
It is conceivable that a group of players
may wish to use several Class 1000 heroes
on an adventure. Imagine trying to come
up with a scenario to challenge Phoenix,
Molecule Man, Galactus, and Zeus! It can
be done, however (though it will take a
little time). Note, for example, that several
of the Class 1000 beings above are (or
were) villains. Some, like the Celestials,
seem to surpass all but the Beyonder in
power. A Class 1000 being can be challenged
by a fleet of starships, an invasion
of Unearthly-class demons from Mephisto,
a reanimated suit of Destroyer armor,
and so forth. Masses of low-level sorts can
be as effective as tougher ones (just as a
swarm of wasps can be as bad as a single
wolf).
Then, too, one must consider the personality
of the characters involved.
Phoenix is an adventurer at heart, true
enough — but Molecule Man wants to be
left alone to live with his girlfriend
Volcana, Zeus usually has governmental
matters on his mind, and Galactus is basically
interested in raiding the stellar icebox
all day to feed his hunger. It might be
better to arrange for adventures in which
Phoenix is played with an assortment of
Unearthly-class heroes, such as Hercules,
Thor, and the rest — but then you run into
the old problem of convincing the good
guys that Phoenix is a good guy, too. The
chances of that happening might be very,
very slim. Perhaps the easy-going Molecule
Man (who tutored the Beyonder, after all)
would help out, and the Silver Surfer
would be a good bet to befriend her.
Beyond that . . . ?
When designing ultra-tough adventures
for Unearthly-class characters (and above),
the following points should be kept in
mind:
1. Avoid always threatening the existence
of the Earth or the universe. Secret
Wars II did a nice job of threatening everything
there was, and saving the Earth
becomes an old theme after a time. But
outer space is full of places that could
challenge the abilities of any hero or
villain. Aliens could come to Earth and
request aid to save their people from
extinction or conquest. A mammoth starship
could enter the solar system on an
unknown mission. An alien life-force could
have invaded Galactus’s world-ship and
placed him in suspended animation, and
his Herald Nova might need help in
removing it. Then, there is always the
Secret Wars I model (kidnapped heroes
fight kidnapped villains in cosmic arena).
This can be overdone, of course, though
the Grandmaster, the Collector, and
Kang seem to enjoy this.
2. Use a wide assortment of foes. If highstrength
heroes fight only other highstrength
heroes, the Judge will see yawns
from the players before long. Use variety
when choosing villains: magic-using foes,
mentalist foes, multipowered enemies, etc.
If a hero has a weak spot, hit it now and
then (though this could prove fatal to
everyone in Phoenix’s case; use good
judgement here).
3. Vary the damage done by attacks. The
reason for this becomes obvious when an
Unearthly-class attack is pitted against
Unearthly armor, or any other such situation.
It stands to reason that some damage
must get through sometime. One solution
to this is to vary damage done by attacks,
while keeping armor values constant. One
table that varies attack damage within a
range of 20% higher or lower appears
below. Damage values below Good are too
low to bother with; those at Class 1000
level are too high.
Attack Base Variable
power rating rating
Good 10 2d4 + 5
Excellent 20 2d4 + 15
Remarkable 30 2d6 + 23
Incredible 40 2d8 + 31
Amazing 50 2d10 + 39
Monstrous 75 3d10 + 59
Unearthly 100 2d20 + 79
Shift X 150 3d20 + 119
4. Spell out a powerful character’s
powers as completely as possible, and
allow only one character per player. If the
characters powers are specific (as well as
its limitations), then the player will have a
clearer idea of what sorts of things he or
she can try, and the player will have his
hands full anyway figuring out what to do
next.
5. Use mystery and problem-solving in
addition to straightforward punch-‘em-out
fights. If Phoenix cannot hit a foe with a
force-bolt, maybe she could talk him out of
his crime — or even apply a gentle,
friendly threat that harms no one. Problem-solving
adventures, involving careful
planning, strategy, and creative thought,
are always good ways to keep even
Phoenix and Molecule Man busy.
6. Finally, apply limitations to Class 1000
abilities that could threaten game balance.
Phoenix, as given above, can reach Class
1000 power in almost any area — but
doing so is very risky for her, and she
should set her limits lower than that.
Applying fixed limits beyond which certain
penalties come into play is a good
method of controlling the character’s
actions, and on-the-spot judgements on
Karma losses and so forth are also helpful.
Any Karma loss should be considerable for
powerful characters, particularly since the
PCs have a greater responsibility to check
their powers. Acting out of character may
also cause a substantial Karma loss (100
points minimum). Another limitation for
any Class 1000 character is to prohibit the
use of Karma pools; otherwise, game
balance takes a walk.
The NPC Phoenix
Much of the above information should be
useful in figuring out adventures for an
NPC Phoenix controlled by the Judge —
which in the long run might be the best
way to handle her in most campaigns.
Phoenix (even at the somewhat scaleddown
levels above) may prove too overwhelming
to use, though it could prove to
be interesting in the sorts of player-toplayer
interaction it produces.
Should Phoenix ever turn to Dark
Phoenix, the Judge should play her to be
as savage, vicious, vindictive, ruthless, and
destructive as possible. If you don’t want
to kill heroes, be sure to scare them!
Undoubtedly, this might be a good time to
trot out Molecule Man to clean up after
her, and a contest of wills between the two
would be an interesting problem. Perhaps
the players could take the roles of several
Class 1000 beings who are trying to hunt
down Phoenix and destroy her, if the
Judge feels up to it. Otherwise, the players
will be concerned with staying out of the
way as Phoenix mixes it up with the other
Class 1000 types.
Finally, a series of scenarios could be
played out in which an NPC Phoenix
returns and the heroes have to decide
how to handle her. Since she might not
initially be in Dark Phoenix form, it would
be wise to handle her carefully (as with
the Beyonder). In time, she might be convinced
to leave for parts unknown, rejoin
the phoenix-force, or turn fully human
(and become completely normal). The
possibilities are endless.
D RAGON 81