Vendetta - A Champions campaign

[The Crimster]

THE HACKER FILES

///Begin Report 04.25.2001 19.22.00 GMT

The Hacker-Man here, with another edition of The Hacker Files. >>> insert CoolThemeSong.wave here <<<. I’ve been spending a lot of cycles working with Alex and Jack (that’s Arsenal and Steel Scorpion to you, buddy). Alex and I are writing a rather complex database program that has information on virtually every type of lock ever created. We’re then going to burn it onto a data chip that is compatible with his systems (I’d like a crack at his systems, let me tell you. They seem… odd). So if they’re in the field and they need to get past a locked door, Arsenal can load up the data and bypass it. Nifty, eh? Jack is working with me on something else. If you know anything about what he suggested, than you know what I’m talking about. I think I’ll call it, “Project ME”. What do you think?

I’ve added a couple of new fields to this database and played with the layout. Without further ado, here are a couple of add-ins for The Hacker Files.

THE HACKER FILES

Abaddon
Last Sighting: New York City, NY
Real Name: Unknown
Description: Middle-aged, with dark hair turning gray at the temples. Usually wears wrinkled clothing and a trench coat.
Notes: Abaddon's real name is unknown, possibly even to himself. At one point he could have been considered a hero, but no more. He is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful mentalists on the planet. His telekinesis is said to be so powerful that he can literally create objects by drawing together molecules of matter (though this is apparently a slow process). In 1997 he was confronted by the New York hero known as Shrike. A misunderstanding turned into a battle, and Abaddon’s first attack shattered a nearby building (sadly, Shrike did not survive). He first appeared over 10 years ago, in the soon dissolved metahuman group known as ‘X’. Even then he was never one for heroics or fame. Abaddon just enjoyed using his awesome powers. Over the years, he has become increasingly paranoid and power-mad, and is now wanted in several states for a variety of crimes. His true background is unknown.
** Hacker’s Notes: This guy is just plain scary. It’s almost as if other people do not exist to him, unless they get in his way. Then he levels everything in a three block radius and moves on. I get the distinct feeling he’s searching for something, though. I don’t know why – I just do.
** Hacker’s Threat Level: 9.66. Pure destruction. I don’t think he bothers to zap anyone’s mind anymore. I also gave him +.25 for simply being insane and unpredictable. Hey, it’s my scale I can do what I want.

Blur
Last Sighting: Los Angeles, CA
Real Name: Candace McCoy
Description: Tall (6’0”) and gorgeous, Blur also wears a costume designed by the famed designer DaVincent. It is baby blue (her trademark color) and accented with stylized lightning bolts around her chest. She also leaves her midriff bare.
Notes: Blur is a female metahuman who has been seen around a large portion of Southern California. Not surprising considering the speed at which she can move. She is able to run so fast that she is able to run vertically for short distances. Last year, Blur was interviewed on Meta-News Today, where displayed her incredible abilities and tragic past (her metahuman powers manifested when her father began to abuse her at the age of 13). She has had few noteworthy captures, but has nonetheless garnered quite a bit of publicity for herself in the past six months. Recently, Blur has been romantically linked with Douglin Clark, lead singer of the Grunge Monkees.
** Hacker’s Notes: Not only a metahuman, but beautiful and sweet. Quite a few metahuman fan-boys have posters of Blur on their walls. Recently, pirated photos of a naked Blur have surfaced on the net, and I have no idea where to get ‘em. Nope. No sir. Not at all.
** Hacker’s Threat Level: 3.21. Sorry babe. As sweet as you are, you’ve shown you can’t really take a punch. Also Blur’s tactics involve grabbing a bat, running as fast as she can towards the bad guy, and takin’ a swing. Not very impressive, eh?

Trauma
Last Sighting: Los Angeles, CA
Real Name: Unknown
Description: Long dark hair and sunglasses, Trauma looks more like a biker than a metahuman criminal. Reports indicate that in a fight with the hero Jericho, his glasses were knocked askew – showing that he had red eyes (this is unverified).
Notes: Trauma most likely considers himself to be on the side of law and justice. His actions have caused him to be one of the top 10 Most Wanted metahumans in Los Angeles County. He is extremely durable and strong, and seems to have an unusual ability to absorb kinetic energy to make him even stronger. Trauma uses his abilities to hunt down both normal and metahuman criminals. Once he finds them, Trauma uses his strength to break the bones of his targets, based upon how much the criminal has ‘offended’ him. He has yet to kill – but there are a number of victims that will never walk again (one is a metahuman by the name of Gulch).
** Hacker’s Notes: This punk makes even me mad. Doesn’t matter if you’re innocent or not – it’s whether HE thinks you are. Judge, jury, and executioner all rolled into one. He was captured once, and thrown into the back of a Vault Van. They didn’t know about his power, and so he rammed himself into the wall repeatedly until he was strong enough to tear the walls apart like tissue paper. Oh yah, then he broke the arms of every Vault Guard in the vicinity.
** Hacker’s Threat Level: 5.33. Based upon tactical data, the best way to take this guy out is hit him hard and fast. Don’t let him build up his strength, or else you’ll be looking at a cast on your arm for the next 2 months. Or worse. There is no known upper limit on his strength.

///EndReport 04.25.2001 19.22.03 GMT

 

[Cougar]

*** Player's Comment: This is Edge's recent letter to his sister.

Dear Cassie,

Hey, how’s my little sister? Sorry again for not remembering your graduation. Things have been really hectic here with joining this new team. I can’t tell you everything about it, just like before, but maybe you can see it when the movie comes out. Just kidding, of course. It will be a while, if ever, before we are up to Power Force standards. We don’t even have a name yet, though Poltergeist came up with some decent ones. Hopefully we won’t have Nathan choosing one or worse yet, Hacker. He is the computer we use for investigations and his programming is a bit weak. Immature, if you want to get technical.

The people I am teamed up with are a pretty good lot, although none but Arsenal has any government or military experience, although Poltergeist was in a youth meta team. Poltergeist you could say would be close to the group leader and we elected her tactical leader. She has powers of TK, allowing her to fly and my favorite, keep people from moving around so everyone can blast them from afar. Saved our butt on our first mission. Steel Scorpion seems to be on my level of humor, although he is far richer than I will ever be. He made a suit of armor himself, with huge claws and a tail that shoots bolts. Oh, yeah. It is shaped like a scorpion. Duh. Arsenal is a mystery. He seems to be a altered human, like me (someone called me a mutate yesterday, I almost cracked him in his jaw), but much more severely. He has permanent sunglasses that alter his vision and a HUGE pistol that fires different types of shots. And check this out, he has cybernetic limbs, like a robot. Talks like a computer, too. Weird stuff. Our last member, Biologic, is a bigger mystery. I am not sure about where his suit came from, but it is a sort of goop. He can stretch it out and climb walls with it. It makes him really strong and protects him, but he is a little goofy, like he can’t socialize with normal people. Well sorta normal, you know.

Then there is me. I feel like a one trick pony in this crowd. All I do is run fast and punch people. The problem is, everyone can do that. Then later, when that fails, they can do something else. Not me, just running and punching. Didn’t even get to be team leader. Not even tactical leader. Well, enough sob story, sorry sis.

So a paralegal, huh? Finally getting out on your own. Hopefully I won’t need your services after you pass the bar (on the first try, no doubt). We got a stern warning from Nathan, our employer about the dangers of superhero life. And no, I still don’t like being called a meta-human. Besides the obvious of getting hurt, now we have to worry about going to jail for fighting with real bad guys. Maybe I should have taken that appointment to the LAPD. Would have side-stepped around that little problem. Especially with the cops in LA!! Of course Rodney King was no supervillain, would have made more sense if he had been.

One thing that has me a little annoyed still was what happened to us today. We went to visit the “legendary” Skull. Yes, the real Skull. Except when we went to ask for our help, he began kicking our asses. I called for help over our radios and moved in for the fight. We all tried to talk to him, I even held back until the last moment each time I had an opening to see if he was crazy or mind-controlled or something. Finally, he grabbed Poltergeist and we heard that weird communication he does. There is no way for a movie to describe it, it is eerie. Anyway, we hear in our head, “Stop or she dies”. So we all stop. I hold off on attacking. Then Poltergeist goes ahead and flings her cape in front of his face. She makes the move, our newly elected battle leader, so I move forward and attack. Skull puts her down, says to her, “You are dead”. Then he goes into how it was all a test, which I already figured, but hey, who can be sure? Anyway, he is saying, you all failed, you aren’t good enough to be working on this project and how I let my team down. I was so pissed at that point, I just walked out. Later on, he berates me for being a coward and for jeopardizing my teammate, but I didn’t care. We all we did what we could and did a good job against a monster in battle like that.

Well, sis, take care. Just to let you know, that was my last three thousand for a while, so instead of buying a real nice car, maybe save some back to help get an apartment near your job. I’ll send money when you need it.

Love,

Danny

 

[Horacio]

The story is superb! It brings me souvenirs of my old super-heroes comics. Please, continue like that!

And one question now
Do you use Hero System or the Fuzion (new millenium) rules?

 

[The Crimster]

I will use Fuzion when they pry my cold, dead fingers from the Big Blue Book of Champions.

Ahem. Errr, sorry to all you Fuzion lovers out there.

We currently use 4th edition, but are immediately switching to 5th as soon as we get our grubby hands on it.

The Crimster

 

[Poltergeist]

A few brief editorial corrections for you, Hacker!

Dear Hacker,

As a journalist, I am very dedicated to checking the facts of articles I submit and while I realize that you are new to this sort of “reporter” type writing, I noticed a few errors of omission in the way you covered the story and would like you to indulge my desire to play “editor” and make a few corrections. Always remember, as a news writer, facts are your first responsibility, story your second! You can check out my articles from Fate Magazine, including "A Tale of Ghosts and Egos" (Issue 47), "The Grenninger Poltergeist Incident" (Issue 46), "Miss Cleo Revealed" (Issue 46), "In Search of Bigfoot" (Issue 45), and "Everyday Possession" (Issue 45) (to name a few recent ones) to get additional ideas on how to write hard news stories on more esoteric subjects.

1) The entire Ego/Ghost mission was handled the way it was because of your assurance that no there was absolutely no data indicating that he could actually read minds, but rather appeared to have only the power to control minds. As I recall, you actually interjected that information in the middle of our discussion. Our initial plan was to use the “interview” ruse simply to gain access to Ego and Ghost without suspicion and then quickly disable ghost before he could turn them both intangible, allowing us to contain Ego without fear of both he and his brother “ghosting” and escaping. This may seem like a minor detail but failing to include it makes us look a bit stupid. What sensible hero would try to run a bluff on a known telepath? Even seriously misinformed about the nature of Ego’s powers, the plan evolved into using the interview ruse to get him and his brother out of their home so that some of our more subtle members could explore it and see if there was any information about Umbra. That way, even if he did turn out to have the ability to read minds, he would be far and away from his home when the ruse was up. Unfortunately, Ego wanted the interview to occur at his own home so the plan became modified to do the initial interview as seriously as possible and then call a few days later to request a second interview in a public place, again allowing my compatriots to search his home, hoping that the data about his powers *not* including the ability to read minds was correct. The misinformation about his ability to read minds left us in a situation where I was trapped alone in the house with a mind controlling misogynist requiring the others to intervene. Now, I fully realize that you did not mean to misinform us, Hacker! None of us are perfect and you did the best you could with the available data. I just think your reading public should be aware that our plan was sensible based on the available information we had.

2) In terms of the Skull encounter, my decision to use my cape in an attempt to blindfold him was not due solely to the fact that I suspected he was testing us. There were essentially two possible reasons for him to attack us: Either he was testing us or he was an insane, evil, giant skeleton monster with possible connections to Umbra. I thought the former more likely because he would have to be a rather stupid, insane, evil, giant skeleton monster to kill us at this time due to the particulars of the situation. Nathan had arranged this meeting for us and was well aware of where we were going. Skull had also been present when myself and various other team members notified Hacker and Nathan that Skull was attacking us. If we had wound up dead, he would have had all of Power Force after him (not that Power Force cares about us one wit, mind you, but Nathan's connections with Power Force and the implication that Skull might be involved in his daughter's kidnapping would have prompted them to intervene quickly and forcefully).

However, if the latter proved to be true and he in fact was a stupid, insane, evil, giant skeleton monster, I rather doubted that he would have any intention of letting me go regardless of whether we ceased defending ourselves or not. So, the options came down to this: Either he was a hero who was testing us and bluffing when he threatened to kill me, in which case ceasing the attack would make no real difference, or he was a stupid, insane, evil, giant skeleton monster with possible connections to Umbra, which meant that in all likelihood he was actually lying about not killing me if we stopped the attack. Now, I speak only for myself here but I tend not to trust the word of stupid, insane, evil, giant skeleton monsters so I believed the chances of me coming out with my neck intact if he did genuinely mean to kill me were improved by continuing to fight, rather than standing there patient and feckless while I waited for him to murder me. That was the rationale I explained to Skull, as well as to Nathan and in my report to Parks. I realize that several parties, including Skull, have objected to my decision. However, I feel the decision was the most appropriate one for the situation per the rationale I have described above. Or to put it more simply, would you trust the word of a stupid, insane, evil, giant skeleton monster that had you in a headlock?

Hopefully, that makes our reasons for the decisions we made a bit clearer to your reading public.

~Jane/Poltergeist

 

[Poltergeist]

>>>>Ahem. Errr, sorry to all you Fuzion lovers out there<<<<

Aww, Crimster, how sweet...you apologized to both the Fuzion lovers in the world.

I myself am looking massively forward to fifth edition...when recommended base points gets raised to 350 (hint, hint...)

 

[Hammerhead]

Champions

Is there an introductory or "fast play" version of the Champion rules I could check out?

Because from reading this nice story hour, I think it would be cool to do my own.

Anyone know when 5th Ed comes out?

 

[Cougar]

Champions Fifth

Not sure about the fast rules play. The nature of the character generation kinda prohibits that sort of thing, but it may be out there.

Fifth edition is at the printers now, should be out VERY soon.

Vendetta is my first time playing in a Champions setting and by far it is my favorite genre and setting. I love comics and the rules are much more free-form in character generation and development. I am a big fan of 3E, but if you like modern roleplaying or comics or even customizing your game, this is the system for you.

If you can't wait a month or so for Fifth edition to come out, you can head over to www.herogames.com and download the fourth edition rules in PDF.
Price is 19.95. http://www.herogames.com/ourproductsherogames.htm
Click Electronic Books
then
Hero System Rulebook, 4th Edition - PDF.

 

[Black Omega]

I will use Fuzion when they pry my cold, dead fingers from the Big Blue Book of Champions.

Ahem. Errr, sorry to all you Fuzion lovers out there.

We currently use 4th edition, but are immediately switching to 5th as soon as we get our grubby hands on it.

The Crimster

Hopefully very soon, since the release date still stands at April.

Poltergeist looked up at Skull. "Well, we thought it might be a test..."

Skull nodded. "Then if it were a test, your tactics should have been to take everything as serious as possible."

Reminds me of a sci fi herosystem game I ran where the group was dumped into something they thought could be a test. A PC ran out into the line of fire almost suicidally, got zapped, stunned andnearly KO'ed before getting draggedback by another PC, who asked "What are you doing?" "I'm figuring it's just a test." "Well, if it is, you are -failing-."

Good stuff, including the traditional Hero tests the young punks. Capt. A's done that a few times, it's good fun.

 

[Horacio]

So you're truely Hero System people, cool!
Have you already pre-ordered FRed (5th edition Hero System)?

If not, you, and everybody reading it, should do it now, pre-orders are important to generate enough interest from distributors and giving 5th Ed a good distribution...

--- End of promotion of my favorite supers game ----