Okay, we're continuing on with the Glossary of Terms today; the terms run from Hex to Value, so we'll take them one at a time.
Hex is the standard area in the game, a six-sided 1" hexagon that represents a 2-meter real area. No square graph paper for this game.
Human Mass: The game assumes that all characters weigh 100 kg (220 lbs). I'm sure the ladies won't be too thrilled with that. But it makes calculating some things easier, I suppose. After all, hyper-realism isn't a thing in RPGs in 1981.
Inch: Again, the standard unit which represents 2 meters of real length in the game. So if Hyperman is six inches away from a berserk dinosaur, that's 12 meters (about 40 feet) between them. I'm surprised that a game made in California uses meters and not feet as the standard of measurement. I would have expected that from a designer in Canada or Britain, not America.
Killing Dice: No, this isn't the Champions equivalent of casting dice storm on the GM when he ticks you off. This game accounts for killing attacks being separate from normal attacks. Wolverine's claws don't hit the same as Spider-Man's fists. So, when making a killing attack, you roll the dice and add up the total, which is the amount of Body damage done to the target, against which your normal defenses don't apply. Ouch. And then you roll a 1D6 and subtract 1 from the roll to get a Stun multiplier; multiply that number by the total Body damage done to find out how much Stun the target loses. Again, standard defense doesn't reduce that number, so a single killing attack can take down an otherwise-tough character real fast.
Limitation: These are restrictions on powers that reduce the power's cost in points. They have to be applied when the power is first bought during character creation.
Martial Artist: Standard archetype for superheroes and villains; Batman, Daredevil, and Iron Fist would all qualify here.
Normal Dice: This the standard attack as opposed to killing attacks. Roll the total dice and add them up to get the Stun damage, which is reduced by the target's applicable defense. Then look at the individual dice; a roll of 1 equals 0; a roll of 6 equals 2; anything else is a 1. Add them up to get the Body total (also reduced by the target's defense). So, for example, an 8D6 punch attack with rolls of 4,1,5,2,6,3,4, and 2 would give a total Stun of 27 and a Body score of 8 against the target's Physical Defense. If that defense is 9, then the target takes 18 Stun and 0 Body.
NPC: Non-Player Character. I don't think there's an RPG in existence that doesn't have those.
OCV: Offensive Combat Value. This is the number you add to your attack roll to see if you hit the target. It is countered by the target's DCV, which is subtracted from the number. The higher the OCV, the more likely you are to hit.
Pips: A term for the value of a characteristic. It fell out of use in later editions.
Player: Come on.
Power: These are abilities that can't just be learned by anyone. It includes things like super-tough skin, flight, laser blasts, etc. But super-strength would be considered a characteristic.
Power Points: These are the points used to purchase characteristics, skills, and powers. The base amount is 100 points; disadvantages can increase this number.
Range Modifier: A number expressed in inches that represents how much an Attack Roll degrades at range. The further away the target, the harder it is to hit.
Scenario: Well, if you don't know what the scenario is, why are you even playing? This is the adventure your superheroes are going through; it might be something as simple as a bank robbery or as drawn-out as an alien invasion. Good luck.
Segment: The smallest unit of time in the game, about a second in length. Superhero fights move fast.
Skill: These are abilities bought with Power Points that can be learned by characters and are not considered superpowers. Normal people can have these.
Slot: This is a term used for something called a 'Multipower'. A Multipower has various slots, but we aren't given any more information on them just yet. We'll see in future pages.
Superhero and Supervillain: Good guys and bad guys.
Turn: 12 Segments make a Turn; therefore, a Turn is about 12 seconds.
Value: The number defining a characteristic.
Alright, that covers the glossary. The next section is 'Building a Character', which crosses over to the next page, so we'll cover that whole section right now.
What made Champions unique in its day was its character creation system. Unlike D&D, where abilities were randomly rolled, and Traveller, where your entire pre-adventuring career is determined (and you might die), Champions let you build your character the way you wanted to from the ground up. You start with 100 points to play with, and took Disadvantages to increase that total to make your character tougher and well-rounded. And everything was done by your own choice.
There were three steps to building a character. First, decide the concept of the character you want to play. Your initial ideas aren't set in stone, but should give you a pretty good idea of what to buy.
Second, choose how to spend those precious Power Points. Want a strong guy? Spend points on Strength, Constitution, and being bulletproof. Batman is more your speed? Martial arts, detective skills, and gadgets are the way to go. Give yourself a shopping list, and don't forget the limitations that will make buying your powers cheaper. Of course, you don't have to take limitations on your powers if you don't want to.
Third, balance the point costs and the total points available. Odds are pretty good your character won't have everything you want them to have, at least not yet. But over time you'll gain experience that will allow you to add stuff you missed.
Alright, that takes care of page 6 and the first two paragraphs of page 7. Next up, the building blocks of putting together a magnificent superhero.
Also, I've started a second blog for my ridiculously-overblown 3e D&D retrospective, free at this link. Come check it out.
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