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jay@vanishingtowerpress.com

Saturday, November 6

The BoH Combat Record Sheet from the Champions Combat Record Sheet

 I was fucking around with the shitty Champions adventure Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth in an attempt to pull useful "stuff" for my current The Blood of Heroes supers campaign and the book has the utilitarian Champions Combat Record Sheet printed out with the stats of major NPC's at the back. King Cobra, Coil agents, lame-ass super henchmen, etc. Now one of the ways (and there are several) Champions failed my GM attempts was these GM aids didn't make anything easier. Smack in the middle of the form are the speed bubbles you can color in to keep track of the turn order during combat. All this form ever did for me was demonstrate how unworkable the Speed Chart, the organizing principle for combat turns, of Champions really is for me. It added no clarifying function which to help with my TotM (Theater of the Mind) impressions while gaming. In a superhero game this is kind of disconnect is terminal.

So I started penciling in BoH stats for villains involved in the campaign's current combat. Specifically I crossed out the Champions verbiage and replaced them with BoH stats. Not only does it work, it works, in my opinion, better for this system than the original intended. Fucked up, I know!

Take a look for yourself, here is a PDF of the rewrite. Everything in BoH is created with APs. Attributes, Powers, Skills, etc. The common stats referenced in combat are character's Dexterity, Strength, Initiative and Body. Mind and Spirit are important Resistance Values which can come up and a GM needs to be able to see everyone's movement capabilities in a glance. You also want a space for offensive and defensive powers. A character's perception, the Intelligence attribute, is another factor which comes up during combat on a routine basis. All these track easily to the  Champions game form and some busy work with InDesign has given me a great sheet for my preferred supers game! There is even a couple of columns left over for your own customization.  They are perfect spots for gadgets! Just write in the AV/EV, OV/RV stats and your good to go. Another example of how the MEGS system which undergirds BoH is a marvel of elegant design. Check out my current gang of NPC supers filling out this form, the Gulag Goons!



1 comment:

Lay it on the Line