From: rivers@mdnite.enet.dec.com (Kim Rivers)
Subject: Re: Champions:  mage special effects
Reply-To: rivers@mdnite.enet.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 22:38:10 GMT


In article <1993Jan3.222235.6773@cs.uwp.edu>, johnson1@cs.uwp.edu (Christina Johnson) writes:

>anyone out there ever run  a particularily successful Champions Mage??  If
>so, what were some of the better "spells" (powers) and their special effects??

I don't run a mage, but I play on on TV --oh, er, I meant I have them in my
campaign.



>How difficult is it for players ot go up against super mages?  esp in a
>campiagn ith little magic on the players side?  I understand that a mage
>is sust as flexible as any other character, depending on what powers he
>choosies, but what are some advantages/restictions that go along with
>playing a magician in CHampions?

Well, your mileage may vary, really,  In my campaign, mages are built on the
same points as the other 'kinds' of supers (the current world allows for
different genres of superpowered people to exist).  The actual spells the two
mages use are written like any other superperson power (Turn someone to Newt is
a Transform attack, with various advantages/disadvantages as necessary, with
the effect that said person gets turned into newt unless they happen to have
some defense).  

In addition, the mages in my campaign are broken down into Schools o' Color
(no, it's not what you think), meaning that each specialize in a different, but
sometimes overlapping, circle of spells.  For example, Yellow or Alteration
mages (of which I have, thankfully, only one :), do the Shapeshifting and Trans
formation duties, including powers which would result from shapeshifting or
changing into a form (Flight for birds, etc.)   

So, in terms of powers, the mages aren't any more 'special'.  Their specialness
comes from the fact that they have built in Limitations (Obvious Accessible
focus -- the prism, the source of their power-- Gestures and Incants), which
makes buying powers relatively cheap in comparison to someone who doesn't have
that mage Limitation.   On the downside, this means that if someone grabs their
prism away, they're hosed.  They are also restricted in that they cannot
improve/gain powers as easily as someone else in the campaign, they have to be
taught by another mage and then only a mage who had the capability of teaching
them.  Pretty tricky since most mages are clustered in a small segment of the
world.


In terms of going toe to toe with non-mages, as long as the other non-mage is
roughly equal in points to the mage, the battle isn't a foregone conclusion,
evne though the mages tend to have range/versatility of power on their side. 
Of course, any mage can utterly decimate a normal, but ANYBODY with powers can.


But that's my campaign.  I'm not aware of any Champion specific rules that
assign advantages or disadvantages to being a mage, although Fantasy Hero might
suggest some.  I feel pretty comfortable with the disads/ads that I've come
up with to balance the mages against the non-magic supers (FWIW, they come in
three basic flavors in my campaign, regular paranormals or Randoms, Mages and
Cyborgs), and so far, no one has complained otherwise.



>And last:  when playing Champions:  do you find that yourself or your
>players ted to play characters from your own coutry, or do they tend to
>internationalize it?>

I know I tend to play American PCs, but that's because I'm comfortable that I
can do it accurately, rather than pre-suppose I really know what being, say,
British is all about.


--
Dr. Midnight
alias Kim Rivers (rivers@mdnite.enet.dec.com)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+    The opinions expressed above are mine and should not be taken to      +
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+ "The secret of the universe is a nectarine?"                             +
+ "Sublime, isn't it?"    -- from the book, "Q in-law"                     + 
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