Merry Christmas

That's it. Nothing flashy.  Just Merry Christmas!

And, for anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, Happy Monday!  :-)

VnV - New Psionic Powers

Here are a few new Psionic power write-ups for use in your games, compiled by Dominique Sumner and posted to the VnV Yahoo Group in Sept. 2015.

Psionics: Astral Constructs: The character can create astral constructs of solidified ectoplasm as per Illusions B. They appear where the character designates. Creation Points = 2x current Power score. R=Ex2.

Awareness: The character is aware of information that would not normally be known through conventional methods. Some examples include knowing how many pages are in a book without reading it; knowing how many jelly beans are in a jar; knowing which switch turns on a complex computer system; knowing where a specific office is located in a building he’s never been in before; etc. The exact limits of the power must be worked out with the GM.

Psionics: Combat Precog: The character becomes aware of/senses his opponents actions moments before they happen allowing him to react and avoid attacks, and granting him a -4 bonus to be hit, as though he had Heightened Defenses.

Psionics: Confuse/Confusion: The character can cause confusion (temporally interfere with the clear working of a target's mind) in a person or group of people. Attacks as mind control. Victim must save vs. INT or become confused and loose that action. R=C, PR=5.

Psionics: Extra Sensory Perception (ESP):

01-45 Clairaudience
46-90 Clairvoyance
91-00 Both abilities

(A) Clairaudience: The character has the ability to “hear” and understand sounds and events at great distances without actually being there. Base range = I x E in inches. PR= 1 per turn. The maximum range can be increased by a factor of 10 for each additional Power point expended.

(B) Clairvoyance: Works exactly the same as Clairaudience above, but the user can "see" what’s happening at a particular location.

Psionics: Healing Trance: The character can place himself in a sleep like trance, during which time his body heals its daily healing rate per an hour. While in the trance the character, acts as though sleeping and can take no other action.

Precognition: A character with this ability receives random flashes of strong, emotional events that may occur in the near future. The GM should decide what these events are and when they occur, based upon the adventure. This can be an interesting way to give a character clues. A typical vision is 1d6 hours into the future and might not even happen. The GM is encouraged to figure what MAY occur in that time frame, if the character's proceed on their current path.

For example, the psychic is a few miles away from the waterfront, but the GM knows that the villain is hiding at a dockside bar. A vision of a person falling into the water could be used. The vision is not very detailed, and the character cannot control when the vision occurs. If the vision does not actually come true in the game, it can always be chalked up to "must have changed the time-stream." On average about 1 vision in 3 should come true for the player. This power should occur no more than once or twice per session. There is no Power Requirement for this ability and the vision occurs so rapidly, it does not cost an action or movement.

Heightened Mental Abilities: The character has 1d4+2 special abilities from the following list:

• Absolute Sense of Time -The character always knows what time it is and how much time has passed.
• Speed Reader - The character reads and comprehends at a super rate of speed
• Universal Translator - The character can read and understand any language 
• Lightning Calculator - The character is a math genius, able to do seventh order derivatives faster than Deep Thought
• Photographic Memory - The character remembers everything they've heard or seen.
• Sense of Direction - The character always know what direction he's traveling in.

MP - Mapleleaf Titan

Background & Origin: Dave Parker was a top notch professional soccer player in Canada when a chemical accident gave him the power to become a giant. He studied social work in college, but got side-tracked when his professional sports career took off. He enjoyed being in the spotlight, and for the past decade he has been the leader of a prominent Canadian vigilante team. He was previously known as “Giant,” but changed it to something more colorful after a youthful fan remarked at what a dull name that was.

Combat Tactics: He considers his primary duty to be team leader, and his secondary duty is stalwart hero and brick.  He assumes giant form at the earliest opportunity; it provides him greater power, a better view of the battlefield, and is much more intimidating than his normal size.

He favors wrestling, and his large hands can wrap around most people. Kicking also works well, given that normal size people come about to his knees.

Personality Traits:  Stalwart hero.  He takes his leadership role very seriously.

He is what the Public Relations people call “steady.” His popularity consistently polls around 60%. He has an “everyman” quality about him - clearly he cares passionately about people and country, strives to do what is right,  but doesn't always know what the right thing to do is. He tends to sway a bit with the winds of popular values - partly this is calculated PR, but mostly just his temperament. Deep down, he is a good-hearted person who believes in equality for all, and loyalty to friends and family.

Appearance:  5’6”, 140 lbs.  He is very small of frame for someone with superhuman strength, and can be a bit self-conscious about that.

Powers:  Titan naturally has superhuman strength, and he can assume giant size (“as big as a tree”).

Notes:  Artist unknown (I don’t recognize the signature, and trying to Google it turns up nothing).  Character by P. Rogers, January, 1999.

Mapleleaf Titan originally appeared in They Might Be Characters Vol. 1.

Character Name - Mighty Protectors

Strength    20     (Carrying Capacity 768 lbs., Basic HTH d8+1)

Endurance     18     (Save 13, Heal 2.8)

Agility         12     (Save 11)

Intelligence     12     (Save 11)

Cool         18     (Save 12, Initiative d8+1)

Hit Points         19

Power             62

Physical Defense     5

Mental Defense      5

Move             17

Inventing Points     26

Wealth         2d10

Luck             13-

Weight            140 lbs.

Total Cost         80 + 130 - 10 = 200

Powers

Experience Levels: Attack +4, Defense +4, Skills +4 (40 CP)

Inventing: He has a 20-point Gear Pool, provided by government scientists and the team gadgeteer (20 CP)

Knowledge: Geopolitical (Canada, United States, France), Languages: English (native), French (fluent, literate), Japanese, Russian, Spanish (basic, literate), Skills (Civic, Entertainment, Sports) (25 CP)

Luck: Add +3 to Luck (7.5 CP)

Size Change - Larger: Profile ×5, Weight ×125, ST +21, EN +21, PR=2 to grow (35 CP)

Wealth: He does product endorsements, and has invested wisely over his long career, giving him a 2d10 Wealth roll (22.5 CP)

Giant Form

ST 41, EN 39, Carrying Capacity 98,304 lbs., Basic HTH d10+d12, EN Save 15-, Heal 6.9, Hit Points 49, Power 104, Move 155, Weight 17,500

Inventions/Power Stunts

Armored Costume: Adaptation: High Temperatures, Low Temperatures, Armor: Kinetic 1, Energy 2, Biochemical 1, Entropy 2, Modifiers:  Multifunction Gear (i15 CP)

Weaknesses

Public Identity (-10 CP)

Combat Summary:

Initiative: d8+1 (avg 5.5)

Unarmed: Attack 19-, Damage d8+1 (avg 5.5)

Giant Unarmed: Attack 19-, Damage 2d10+1 (avg 12)

Villains & Vigilantes – Maple Leaf Titan

Strength     27    (Carrying Capacity 1,497 lbs., Basic HTH 1d10)

Endurance    17    (Heal 1.2)

Intelligence    11    (Detect Hidden 8%, Detect Danger 12%, Damage +0)

Agility         12    (Accuracy +1, Damage +1)

Charisma     18    (Reaction +/-3)

Level        12

Hit Points        18

Power            67

Move            56” ground

Hit Modifier        6.0480

Weight            140 lbs.

Basic Hits         3

Inventing Points    9.2

Heightened Endurance A: +6

Heightened Expertise: Years of athletic training and ROTC have given him a +4 “to hit” with unarmed HTH.

Heightened Strength A: +15

Size Change (Larger): He can expand from his normal height of 5'6" to 28' at will, an increase of five times his normal height. PR = 1 per hour. If rendered unconscious while in giant form, he reverts to his normal height.

		Basic		Carrying	Hit Point	Hit		Basic	Damage		Ground
Height	Weight	Hits	Agility	Capacity	Modifier	Points	Power	HTH	Modifier	Accuracy	Move
5'6"	140	3	12	1,497	5.148	18	67	1d10	+1	+1	56
28'	17,500	350	-2	187,125	0.396	139	53	6d10	-3	-8	210

Training Program (Invention): He has developed a combat technique usable only in giant form and emulated by giant-size supers the world over. It gives him a +4 “to hit” when he is giant-size.

Armored Costume (Gear): A variant on the Bulletproof Vest, his costume is armored and he can “roll with the blow” for twice as much damage to his Power score than normal.

Combat Summary:

Initiative:  d10+12 (avg 17.5), Giant-Size: 1d10 (avg 5.5)

Unarmed:  HTH +5 “to hit,” Damage 1d10+1 (avg 6.5)

Giant-Size: +1 “to hit,” Damage 6d10-3 (avg 30)

Living Legends – Maple Leaf Titan [132 CP]

PHYS 19/d8 (STR 25/d10)

REFL 7/d4

DEFT 11/d6

INTL 7/d4

COOL 11/d6

VITL 11/d6

Mass 64 kg (d4 Mass effect)

Fame 17/d8

Skills: 4 @ +2 levels (5) (+7) [13 CP]

Leadership (COOL/G): d10 effect

Sport (INTL/G): Professional Soccer, +3 levels (4), d8 effect

Unarmed (DEFT/G): Grapple, d10+2 effect

Unarmed (DEFT/G): Punch, d10+2 effect

Legal Powers: Passport (1), Vigilant License (1) [2 CP]

Skill Bonus: +2 levels (7), Unarmed [grapple, punch] (+3), Miscellaneous Restriction [only when in giant form] (-1) [9 CP]

Wealth: +3 levels (6), d10 effect [6 CP]

Gigantism: +7 levels (35), ×5 profile, ×128 mass, PHYS 85 (STR 98), Can't Hold Back [all-or-nothing] (-2) [27 CP]

Speed Bonus: Ground move top speed ×4 (6), Miscellaneous Restriction [only when in giant form] (-1) [5 CP]

Weakness (Dark Past): As part of his very long vigilante career, he has been involved with some secret missions that he hopes will remain secret. [+10 CP]

Weakness (Persecuted): He has been a vigilante so long he has made a lot of enemies (Common, Major) [+15 CP]

Maple Leaf Titan - Marvel Superheroes Advanced Set

Fighting     Remarkable

Agility     Typical

Strength     Remarkable

Endurance     Excellent

Reason     Typical

Intuition     Good

Psyche     Excellent

Health     86

Karma     36

Resources     Excellent

Popularity     30

Powers

Armored Costume: Typical protection from physical and Force, Excellent protection from Heat, Fire and Radiation, Good material strength.

Giant-Form:  Unearthly

• He can grow to 28’ tall;
• His Strength increases to Unearthly, his Endurance to Amazing. His Health increases to 186;
• He gains Good Body Resistance.

Talents

Leadership

Performance

Contacts

Boilerplate

Document Copyright (C) Year by Patric L. Rogers. All rights reserved.  Portions Copyright others; no attempt is made to infringe upon their rights.

Mighty Protectors and the Monkey House Games logo are trademarks owned by Monkey House Games, ©2017 Monkey House Games. All rights reserved. Made in the U.S.A.

Villains & Vigilantes, Living Legends and the Monkey House Games logo are trademarks owned by Monkey House Games, ©2010 Monkey House Games. All rights reserved. Made in the U.S.A.

Unofficial Living Legends Companion written by Patric L. Rogers, Copyright © 2010-2017 by Monkey House Games. All rights reserved.

Sourcebooks Marvel Superheroes Advanced Set (TSR, 1986), Realms of Magic (Kim Eastland, TSR, 1986), The Ultimate Powers Book  (David E. Martin, TSR, 1987), 4C System (Michael Hammes, Philip Reed, 2007).

Random backstory generator - http://www.pbegames.com/lifepath/ .

Random name generator - http://www.behindthename.com/random/ .

Random job  generator - http://writingexercises.co.uk/random-job-generator.php .

Random personality trait generator - http://writingexercises.co.uk/random-character-traits-generator.php .

Random height/weight generator - http://tower.newcenturycomputers.net/hwcalc.html .
(see also http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm )

MP - The Power of Inventions

One of VnV's cool features has always been Inventing Points. Creative players and GMs could use them for permanent gadgets (think Spiderman's Car), kit-bashed one off items ("We need a Mega-Extinguisher to stop Nova!"), or power stunts ("I want to use my Force Field to fly!").

Like pretty much everything, this got an upgrade with Mighty Protectors in the new resource pool called, still called "Inventing Points," but now more reliable and persistent.

MP Inventing Points are permanently assigned until recycled.  That means a Mega-Extinguisher with only 3 charges (to shave points), still exists tomorrow, with a fresh batch of 3 charges, unless the story says it got destroyed, or the player decides to scrap it.  In both cases, the resource pool immediately becomes available for something else.

In fact, the player (with GM approval) can actually just decide the character sticks the Mega-Extinguisher on the shelf "in case it's ever needed again," and the device persists, even as the points are freed up.  Kind of like Spiderman remembering he can swing places, so he didn't need that stupid car anymore.  (Which was just a toy product tie-in, anyway.)

The Inventing Ability is extremely powerful, because it is a pool of points that can be recycled again and again.

Now, remember that Inventing Points are just CP, so they can be used any way that CP can be used, with GM permission.

This includes assigning them before the game begins.  I like to have my characters wear bulletproof vests.  It's a super cheap way to get some valuable Protection.

Most characters have an Intelligence of 10 or higher, giving them 5 Inventing Points at the start. Since a Bulletproof Vest is 5 CP, it works well to fill that "Gear Pool" with a BP Vest. Essentially, the starting character has a "free vest."  Since it is an "invention," it also provides a great rational to say it is part of the character's costume, and just kind of bury it in the noise without having to alter the costume concept.  This same rationale makes it easy when the IP are recycled -"The Wasp changed her costume, again!"

Model Riki LeCotay, aka Riddle

Below is an example from a character I'm developing.   This character has an IN 20, which means 10 Inventing Points. In this example, I've used 5 on a stock Bulletproof Vest, and 4.5 on "power stunts," that I considered "permanent" enough to have incorporated into her character sheet.

Gear Pool/Inventions/Power Stunts

• Bulletproof Vest: Armor: Kinetic 6, Energy 2, Biochemical 2, Entropy 2, Modifiers: Gear, Partial Coverage (Light) (5 CP)
• Lean Muscle Building Eating Program:  Heightened Strength: ST +2, (included above), Heightened Defense: Physical Defense +1 (included above) (4.5 CP)

Similarly, this is from a different character I'm developing. In this case, she has a background in runic/tattoo magic, and has scribed a number of tattoos onto her skin. Unlike the previous example, I used the Gear modifier for these, since they can be damaged/negated in combat. This example is also naked exploitation of the Gear rules, as proof of concept to see what it could do, but also how easy/unsatisfying it is to twist the MP rules (which I talked about elsewhere).  Obviously, a GM would want to monitor something like this carefully, even if it wasn't also bundled under the Inventing Ability.  (Note, I may have overlooked a rule somewhere that specifically bans this, so let me know if that's the case.)

Gear Pool/Inventions/Power Stunts

• Tattooed Rune of Bull's Strength: Heightened Strength: ST +6, Modifiers: Gear (1 CP)

• Tattooed Rune of Bear's Endurance Heightened Endurance: EN +6, Modifiers: Gear (1 CP)

• Tattooed Rune of Cat's Grace: Heightened Agility: AG +6, Modifiers: Gear (1 CP)

• Tattooed Rune of Fox's Cunning: Heightened Intelligence: ST +6, Modifiers: Gear (1 CP)

• Tattooed Rune of Eagle's Splendor: Heightened Cool: ST +6, Modifiers: Gear (1 CP)

• Tattooed Rune of Languages: Knowledge: three (3) languages, accented, no literacy Modifiers: Gear (1 CP)

• Tattooed Rune of Iron Skin: Invulnerability: Kinetic, Modifiers: Charges [6ch], Gear (5 CP)

• Tattooed Rune of Storm God’s Wrath: Electric Bolt: Damage 2d8, Range 64”, PR=3, Modifiers: Gear, Increased PR, Increased Range (5 CP)

• Tattooed Rune of Storm God’s Rage: Sonic Boom: Effect Save @ -1 or lose one level of Hearing, No Range, Area Effect 7” diameter Offset, Charges [8ch], Modifiers: Charges Instead of PR, Gear, Increased Area, Offset, Reduced Charges, Requires a Save (CL @ +6) (5 CP)

An Alternate Action Sequence Chart for VnV

Found this in the old archives.  Way back in 1985, I had recently discovered Champions, Villains and Vigilantes, and Superworld (and maybe one or two others comic book RPGs).  When "counting segments," the Champions speed chart seemed elegant, compared to VnV's mechanism.  A few years later, I figured out to just order the character actions, and not worry about "counting" anything. Live and learn :-)

This chart had two functions: First, to simplify segment "counting," and second, to prevent the "I just had three actions, what's Bull gonna do?" problem for the Heightened Agility and Heightened Speed types (we had one PC with Heightened Speed x2, and we had all missed the rule about "more than one action per turn is PR=2 per action, so you can imagine how big the problem was).

(Below are, literally, my old notes, just because I felt nostalgic.)

The basic idea is to simplify the initiative or order of action.  In this model, a turn is still 15 seconds long, but it now consists of 6 “segments”.  Characters can act (“take their phase”) on the appropriate segment.  This way the GM and players only have to keep track of six segments, instead of having to keep counting down in increments of 15.

VnV initiative value	Speed Value	Segment
		1	2	3	4	5	6
1 to 15	1				X
16 to 30	2			X			X
31 to 45	3		X		X		X
46 to 60	4		X	X		X	X
61 to 75	5	X	X	X		X	X
76+	6	X	X	X	X	X	X

When the appropriate segment arrives, characters with the appropriate Speed Value can act.  In cases of more than one character being able to act in the same segment, here are the rules:

• Higher initiative goes first;
• If tie for initiative score, then higher Agility goes first;
• If tie for Agility, then each rolls 1d20 and high roll goes first;
• If the d20 rolls come up a tie, then the player that has provided the most munchies for the group over time goes first.

Phase can always be delayed and used to interrupt.  A character can “abort to a dodge,” meaning give up next phase to start Evading right now.  Evasion lasts until the first phase of the next turn.  “Between-turns” phase happens between segment 6 of the ending turn, and segment 1 of the next turn.

Copyright P. Rogers 1985, 2011, 2017.  All rights reserved.