Recruitment and OOC thread for DC Heroes (Mayfair)

[khyron1144]

Does anybody besides me have any knowledge of the DC Heroes system published by Mayfair Games?

Would anybody like to learn?

Does anybody like superheroes, specifically those of the DC universe and have a desire to play as them in an RPG?

Some specifics:
I'm thinking of something involving both non-powered vigilantes (ala Bat Man or The Question) and members of Earth's mystical community (John Constantine, Dr. Occult, Zatanna).

Power level isn't a major issue and might be all over the map as far as the group goes.

I work and have a life outside the internet.  I'm thinking about two GM moderated official turns a week, but more is a possibility under exceptional circumstances.

For newbies learning the game as you go, I'd prefer to do pregenerated characters rather than original player-created characters because character creation is point-based and pretty much requires the player to actually own a copy of the rules.

I'm looking for about two to six players.

[khyron1144]

If anybody is interested and wants to take the pregenerated character option, here's a list of:
Recommended established DC Heroes that I have stats for:

Jason Blood
Deadman
John Constantine
Black Orchid
Doctor Occult
Swamp Thing
Madame Xanadu
Zatanna
Nightwing
Huntress
The Question
Robin III
The Creeper
Cat Woman
Black Canary
Thorn
Oracle
Rag Man
Gangbuster
Katana
Lady Shiva
Richard Dragon
Bronze Tiger
Dorothy Spinner
Flame Bird
The Unknown Soldier
Gravedigger
The Viking Commando
Midnight

[khyron1144]

Characters Not Avialable as PCs:

The Spectre: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.

Phantom Stranger: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.

Dream/ The Sandman: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.  Also some degree of power level issues.

Death: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.  Also some degree of power level issues.

Destiny: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.  Also some degree of power level issues.

Desire: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.  Also some degree of power level issues.

Despair: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.  Also some degree of power level issues.

Destruction: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.  Also some degree of power level issues.

Delirium: Reserved exclusively for GM usage as a plot device where necessary.  Also some degree of power level issues.

Mister E: I don't really know too much about this character or like him enough to want him in a campaign I'm GMing.

Baron Winters: I don't really know too much about this character or like him enough to want him in a campaign I'm GMing.

Marvel Family characters:  Although magical in origin, they are standard Superman-like daylight heroes with the wrong tone for this campaign.

Powergirl (Atlantean Origin version): Although magical in origin, she is a standard Superman-like daylight hero with the wrong tone for this campaign.

Arion: Wrong era.

White Witch: Wrong era.

Amethyst: Wrong Dimension.

Kid Eternity: Too confusing.

[khyron1144]

The basics of DC Heroes:
APs
Everything in the DC Heroes world is measured in Attribute Points or APs.
 

APs	Time	Distance	Weight
0	4 seconds	10 ft.	50 lbs.
1	8 seconds	20 ft.	100 lbs.
2	16 Seconds	40 ft.	200 lbs.
3	32 Seconds	80 ft.	400 lbs.
4	1 Minute	160 ft.	800 lbs.
5	2 Minutes	320 ft.	1/2 Ton
6	4 Minutes	640 ft.	1 Ton

A character's statistics are also measured in APs.  This can make certain math easier to do.  For example a character with a Strength score of 3 can easily lift 3 APs of weight or 400 lbs.  A character with a Dexterity of 2 can move 2APs of distance (40 ft.) in 0 Aps of time (4 seconds).

[khyron1144]

The central mechanics of this game are based on two tables.  The first is the Action Table.  This involves matching Acting Value (AV) the rows against an Opposing Value (OV) the columns and rolling 2d10 adding the two dice together to get a number between 2 and 20.  Doubles get to roll again and keep adding to the previous result.  Double ones at any point is an automatic failure.

AV	0	1 to 2	3 to 4	5 to 6	7 to 8	9 to 10	11 to 12	13 to 15	16 to 18	19 to 21	22 to 24
1-2	6	11	13	15	18	21	24	28	32	36	40
3-4	5	9	11	13	15	18	21	24	28	32	36
5-6	4	7	9	11	13	15	18	21	24	28	32
7-8	4	5	7	9	11	13	15	18	21	24	28
9-10	3	4	5	7	9	11	13	15	18	21	24
11-12	3	3	4	5	7	9	11	13	15	18	21
13-15	3	3	3	4	5	7	9	11	13	15	18
16-18	3	3	3	3	4	5	7	9	11	13	15
19-21	3	3	3	3	3	4	5	7	9	11	13
22-24	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	5	7	9	11

[khyron1144]

Then the results table is consulted, which involves checking an Effect Value (the rows) against a Resistance Value (the columns)

N3

EV	X	0	1 to 2	3 to 4	5 to 6	7 to 8	9 to 10	11 to 12	13 to 15	16 to 18	19 to 21	22 to 24
1-2	+1	A	1	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
3-4	+1	A	2	1	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
5-6	+1	A	3	2	1	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
7-8	+1	A	5	4	3	2	N	N	N	N	N	N
9-10	+1	A	8	6	4	3	2	N	N	N	N	N
11-12	+1	A	10	9	7	6	4	3		N	N	N
13-15	+1	A	12	11	9	8	7	5		N	N	N
16-18	+1	A	14	13	11	10	9	8	6	4	N	N
19-21	+1	A	18	17	16	14	12	10	8	6	4	N
22-24	+1	A	21	20	19	17	15	13	11	9	7	5

[khyron1144]

All this is probably gobblydegook so far.  We need an example.  Lets's say Batman tries to punch an ordinary thug.  Batman has Dexterity: 10 Strength: 5 and Body: 6.  The thug has Dexterity: 2 Strength: 2 and Body: 2.
First we compare Batman's Dexterity (the Acting Value in a physical attack) against the Thug's Dexterity (the Opposing Value in a physical attack) on the Action Table.  For Batman to hit he needs a four or higher on 2d10.

[dice]1d10[/dice] [dice]1d10[/dice]

He got an 11, which is higher than four, so he hits.

Then comparing Batman's Strength (the Effect Value for physical combat) of 5 to the Thug's Body (Resistance Value for physical Combat) of 2, on the Results Table we find that Batman scores 3 RAPs (Result Attribute Points), which in this case would be points of Body damage against the thug.  3 points of damage is greater than the Thug's 2 points of Body, so the thug goes down from one punch.

[khyron1144]

Here's some setting information and a general idea of the starting point for the storyline of the campaign.

Like many DC comics this will be set in a fictional city.  Actually a twin pair of cities that grew up side by side.  The cities are named Strega and Hexen.  

It's a fairly open secret that these cities were initially settled at least partly by Heathens/ Pagans/ Hereditary Witches who were not welcome elsewhere.  Now somewhere over a hundred years later, the descendents of these witchy folk are the established old money and society families.

There has been no history of metahuman criminals or heroes in the cities.

Now something weird is going on.

The place in DC Universe continuity is a bit funky.  I want the setting to be the present day, so I don't have to keep saying: okay were PDAs widely available ten years ago? (Just as a random example of possible technological progress in the last ten years.)  On the other hand, I have a specifc place in mind as far as events in the DC Universe:

After the debut of Tim drake as the third Robin (hence his availability as a PC).
Before the Death and Return of Superman or Knightfall or Emerald Twilight.
After Dream/ Morpheus escapes captivity and reclaims his artifacts of power.
Also after Lucifer abdicates rulership of Hell and Heaven takes over the administration of Hell.
Before the death of the Morpheus version of Dream.
After the birth of Tefe and the return of Swamp Thing to modern day Earth.
Before Swamp Thing becomes the Planet Elemental of even more God-like power.

[khyron1144]

This is a character sheet for an original character  creation of mine.  If anyone wants to, he is available as a PC, otherwise, he would almost deifnitely show up as an NPC someplace.

[spoiler]Character Name: Tatters         Alter Ego:  None
Occupation:  Hobo Vigilante    Wealth: 4
Motivation: Seeking Justice

DEX: 4     STR: 12      BODY: 14
INT: 5       WILLL: 5    MIND: 7
INFL: 8     AURA: 10   SPIRIT: 15
Initiative: 21      Hero Points: 406

Powers:
Claws: 22
Regeneration: 7
Dimension Travel: 6
Sorcery: 12


Skills:
Martial Artist: 18
Thief (Escape Artist, Stealth): 11
Occultist: 8


Advantages:
Area Knowledge (The Dreaming), Area Knowledge (Hell), Scholar (Immortality Magic), Connection: The Sandman (Low), Connection: Swamp Thing (Low), Connection: Mystical Coomunity (Low), Lightning Reflexes

Drawbacks: Strange Appearance

Equipment:  Armoring Ritual:
Effect: Skin Armor 10
Casting Time: 8 APs
Necessary Components: (turtle shell, snake scale, iron dust) Cost 6 APs
Hero Point Cost to learn: 25


Background:  Victor Frankenstein was real.  Copies of his journals and notes are circulated by an occultist/ scientist underground community that now spans the globe.  Once in a while someone decides to retry The Experiment.  Tatters is the result of a recent attempt.

His creator was definitely a little more on the occultist side of the line.  His orignial name is unknown; he operates under the shadow name of Victor Henry West in an attempt to draw on the psychic resonance of literary mad scientists.  Victor Henry West dug up, cut up, and stitched together corpses and then animated them in a bizarre ritual.

The thing that arose on the slab is Tatters.  Tatters doesn't know who his component parts come from, but the phenomenon of muscle memory leads him to bleieve that at least one donor was a superb martial artist or possibly a costumed vigilante.

One question that plagues Tatters is whether or not he has a soul.  The fact that he displays emotion and free will seems to say yes.  As does the fact that he is capable of using sorcery.  On the other hand, when he's had occasion to visit Hell, the demons taunt him with riddles and hints of his possible soullesness.

In his wanderings he has met Dream and aided him.  He's also worked alongside much of the Earth's Mystical community, including Swamp Thing, to avert a disaster.

He has recently arrived in the city of Hexen and is trying to keep as low a profile as he can.

Description: Tatters is close to seven feet tall, very heavily built and covered in scars.  There are odd bits of metal embedded in his flesh where the electrodes attached.  His fingertips end in metallic claws.  His complexion is quite unusually pale.

He doesn't talk much, but he has a very solid, looming presence.  His voice is quite deep and usually rarely raised much past a whisper.

He dresses almost exclusively in browns and blacks.  He doesn't sweat as the normally living do, so he changes clothes infrequently, often wearing one set of clothing util it is covered in grime and ragged around the edges.

Personality:  Looking at him, one would expect Tatters to regularly fly into rages and smash things.  One would be wrong.  Tatters is quite gentle until given reason to be otherwise.  Even when angered, his anger is a chilly thing, not fiery.

Tatters has a very keen sense of fairness.  This more than anything is what makes hime one of the good guys.  He does what he can to right wrongs and reward kindness.  He will hold a grudge.[/spoiler]

[khyron1144]

Recommended Reading List:

Books of Magic miniseries by Neil Gaiman

any of Neil Gaiman's Sandman but especially Preludes & Nocturnes through Season of Mists

The Spectre: Crimes and Punishments

Day of Vengeance miniseries and Shadow Pact regular series  

Good Batman stories, like:
Venom
Arkham Asylum A Serious House on A Serious Earth
Year One
Haunted Knight
The Long Halloween

[khyron1144]

I notice the views count goes up somewhwat more than can be accounted for by just my activity.  Yet nine posts in, I'm the only poster.  That would seem to indicate I've got lurkers.

It might sound weird, but can I get a headcount of current lurkers?  Who's interested enough to read?  Please post, just to let me know you're reading, even if youre not that interested in joining.

That brings me to another question:  Why isn't anybody interested in joining?  Unfamiliar system?  Nobody likes the genre?  Nobody wants to take the pregenerated character route?