Accessory - Dragon Magazine #111.pdf - Index of

©1986 by George Mac Donald
All heroes want to be powerful so that an OCV of 8 to 11, a DCV of 7 to 10, a
they can be effective in their own cam- Dexterity of 20 to 30, and a Speed of 4 to
paign. But when is a hero too powerful in 6. Your campaign may have different
relation to the campaign in which he power levels, but it is important to know
plays, and how does the Game Master deal what your campaign‘s power levels are so
with such a hero? This article discusses that you can judge how powerful a hero is
what makes a hero powerful, offers some in your particular game.
ideas on how to use powerful heroes in a A general rule is that a hero who
scenario, and presents Quantum, a hero- exceeds the campaign’s power level by 20
ine whose power ranges from mild to power points in any one category will be
overwhelming. considered very powerful in that category.
Thus, a hero with an extra + 4D6 Attack,
What’s powerful?
+ 10 Defenses (there are two defenses),
+4 OCV, +4 DCV, + 6 DEX, or +2 Speed
Super-powered hero games are called over everyone else has a powerful advan-
“power games,” because the heroes can do tage, A hero who combined all of these
things far beyond the abilities of normal advantages with no obvious limitations
men. But every player’s hero can do things would be more powerful than two or
normal people can't do. The measure of three ordinary heroes.
power lies not just in what your hero can There are other, more subtle ways a
do; it’s what your hero can do better than
everybody else’s hero.
For the purposes of our discussion, the
average power level of a CHAMPIONS
hero can be powerful. A hero may have all
of the special defenses like Power Defense
and Hardened Defenses, making that hero
is less affected by attacks that could over-
campaign is based on a hero who can do whelm an otherwise powerful hero. A
10-14D6 Attacks, has Defenses of 20 to 30, hero could have lots of Body and Stun
90 JULY 1986
Points and a high Recovery, so that he
could weather many more attacks than his
defenses might suggest. A hero could also
use Special Attacks like Power Drains and
NNDs to defeat opponents who have large
regular defenses, but are too “narrow” to
have Special Defenses.
The least obvious way to be a powerful
hero is to be very flexible. Different opponents
have different strengths and weaknesses.
If your character has fast
movement and a variety of attacks, then
he can avoid his enemy’s strengths and
exploit their weaknesses.
Dealing with power
Given the above, what should the Game
Master do when presented with a hero
who is exceptionally tough? Such a hero
can come from several sources. A new
player may bring a hero from a higherpowered
campaign. A hero with lots of
experience points may play in a game with
a group of beginning heroes. Or, the Game
Master may let one hero be very powerful
in one respect by applying additional
restrictions on the hero, perhaps to promote
diversity in the campaign.
There are many things a Game Master
shouldn’t do when he allows a powerful
hero in his campaign. He shouldn’t let the
hero be so powerful that he obviates the
need for the other heroes. The powerful
hero can be given a narrow specialty or a
crippling weakness, so the other heroes
can all have their turn to shine.
Also ensure that the powerful hero
doesn’t dominate the game and take up too
much of the Game Master’s time. The
Game Master should center storylines and
subplots around all of the different heroes
in his group, and resist the temptation to
make the powerful hero the center of all
attention.
Finally, the Game Master must make
sure the powerful hero doesn’t gain control
of the storyline. The Game Master
must make sure the challenges and problems
that are the basis of the storyline
cannot be wiped away by an unusual
wrinkle in that hero’s abilities.
There are also several things a Game
Master should do when he runs a game
with a very powerful hero. Most of these
are things a Game Master should consider
whenever he runs a scenario, but they are
especially important when there is a
power imbalance in the game.
The first thing to remember is to provide
a hero with challenges commensurate
with his abilities. If a very powerful hero
has a high Strength, you should make sure
the tasks he has to deal with are right at
the limits of his abilities. If a hero has very
fast Flight, make him chase a missile that
is just as fast as he is. These challenges
make the hero flex his abilities and make it
obvious that this hero is “the only one who
can do the job!”
The other option is to provide the hero