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Chapter One: Truth, Justice And The American Way: The Superhero Genre (whew) starts by trying to define the core elements of superhero stories. Characters are of course both super AND heroic. This is not a tautology. Plenty of ancient heroes, namely the Greek demigods, had superpowers but were not “heroic” in our modern sense. That modern heroism is strongly identified with altruism and sacrifice, something a lot of pagan heroes weren't very good at. Batman of course qualifies as a superhero because even though he's technically “normal” he operates on such a higher level than most trained/gadget-using characters that he should be considered in the superheroic realm.
This chapter also lists typical Superhero Elements characteristic of these stories. These are examined both in terms of the genre and in terms of use in a Champions game. A Secret Identity, for instance, is taken by a superhero if going public would either endanger his loved ones or if said loved ones would object to the superhero lifestyle. (In the 6E corebooks, not only is it stated that a Complication that doesn't negatively impact the character isn't worth any points, that means that for a Complication to be worth points, the GM has to use it every once in a while.) Other such examples include Secret Societies (Atlantis, or the hidden home of the Inhumans) or Super-Agencies (both heroic and villainous) that can be a source of both NPCs or PC origins.
Next, the chapter goes over Champions Subgenres, representing various subgenres of superhero comics that inspire the games. These are split into two categories, subgenres built around a particular setting type, and those based on a particular superhero comic period, specifically the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages. (It's mentioned in a sidebar that there's some debate as to what is characteristic of each Age- certainly there was a lot of debate on that subject at the Hero Games forums before this book was printed.)
Chapter Two: With Great Power... :Superhero Character Creation starts by discussing benchmarks for what makes a hero character a “superhero” which is important especially for those “technically normal” types. According to 6th Edition rules, there are official categories of characteristic level, where in most cases “Average” is a 6-10 stat, Skilled is 11-13, Competent is 14-20, Legendary is 21-30 and true Superhuman is 31+. Sherlock Holmes, for instance, might be considered Legendary in Intelligence. It is possible for characters without Superhuman Characteristics to count as superpowered if they have other abilities (Flight, Regeneration, etc.) and it is also possible for technically normal types to have Limited Characteristics exceeding the campaign threshold of what constitutes Superhuman (a Powered Armor hero with Super-Strength, or a gunslinger who bought Lightning Reflexes, which is DEX only to improve initiative).
There is also a review of origin categories, comparing those Born Great (Aliens, Mutants), those who Achieve Greatness (like Gadgeeters) and those who Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them (as opposed to some Penthouse Comix characters who got powers by having greatness thrust INTO them). One could also be a combination of these; for instance the main example of Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them is a character who gains powers from a radiation accident, while Batman is an example of someone who Achieved Greatness in training, but it could also be argued Bruce Wayne would never have aspired to become Batman if not for the tragedy of his parents' deaths. This leads to the category of motivations, which could be Batman's hunger for justice or another character's more prosaic needs for money or recognition in being a public hero.
Then there's a much more detailed review of Superhero Archetypes, many of which were first defined by the Champions game (for instance, calling a strong/invulnerable superhuman a 'Brick'). These are all discussed individually over a few pages each (with pictures) including the Skills best complementing the type, examples of their typical Powers, and their typical Complications. In this version, the Archetypes section also includes Meta-Archetypes defined more by concept than specific powers, such as Anthropomorphics (e.g. Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew) or Patriots- those who defend either a specific nation or represent a certain broad concept- Scott Bennie's Gestalts being examples of the latter.
After all this you're told to go over the basics of character creation; what the GM wants power limits to be, what Skills the character needs to have, how high his defenses should be compared to his attacks, etc. In particular there is discussion of what background Knowledge Skills can be bought in a superhero world, and how the Power Skill is used for a PC to come up with impromptu uses of his base power that aren't written on his character sheet. (It's still expected that you buy all your Powers on points, but this approach allows for the one-time stunt that is rarely used again.) There is also good detail given to Complications, especially superhero classics like Accidental Change and Dependent NPC.
Also, Chapter Two goes over the dynamics of the superteam, given that almost all PCs are going to belong to one. This includes the matter of how the PCs are brought together as a team, the typical personalities and roles of team members, what kind of base/team equipment they will get, and just how well they get along with the law.
Chapter Three: ...Comes Great Responsibility: Gamemastering Champions is fairly self-explanatory, starting with the point that since most supers games are based in the modern world, you don't have to do as much “world-building” as you would in a Fantasy or SF game. You do have to define how superpowers work, if they include all the examples you see in comics or just a few categories, and how the existence of superhumans changed history up to the present.
Tied to this are important questions like when the first supers appeared, leading to other questions like, why would superhumans wear costumes or have Secret ID if those are comicbook conventions? In any event there are also GM decisions to be made like how well-liked superhumans are, their status under the law, and how realistic the campaign is. For instance in a “PCs are the first supers” setting, the society and the law might actually become friendlier to supers because of the PCs' own positive actions, making them pivotal in the development of the campaign world.
This chapter also discusses where the GM wants to place his game's Power Levels, including the starting points for Champions PCs. The general assumption in HERO 6th Edition is that PCs start at the “Standard” Superheroic level, which is 400 points, of which 75 need to be “Matching Complications” (drawbacks). Adjusting these figures either up or down will affect players' spending priorities. For instance raising the quota of Complications may oblige players to scrounge for drawbacks that don't make much sense for their characters. (Which is why the official quota was lowered from the 5th Edition limit of 150 points in Disadvantages.) However there are other considerations. For instance it's mentioned that the more starting points the PCs get, the more powerful Focus-based characters become, since they will get to apply a larger number of points to Powers with that Limitation. Higher point totals will also mean that there are few threats that can outclass the PCs. On the other hand, if you're trying to simulate major teams like JLA or the Authority, the campaign needs to be that high-powered. Page 135 has comparative tables for the various power levels suggested.
There are also more details on both the campaign morality (usually Black and White versus Shades of Grey, with variations) and realism (for instance, Realistic games generally don't accept 'superhero physics', which will cause a lot of problems for speedsters, among others). In terms of campaign advice there is some important stuff about “the limits of superhero genre simulation” - in other words, what works in the comics is not going to work in the game, and vice versa. For instance, in most of the comics (until recently, anyway) characters didn't wear armor or have much need to. In Champions design, this is a bad idea. One suggestion for the technically normal guy or “Artful Dodger” who tries to survive simply by avoiding damage is to buy Resistant Defenses with appropriate Limitations to represent a “just missed me” effect, given that with random dice rolls you cannot guarantee that the dodge tactic will work, and in such cases you will need some kind of damage absorption ability.
Chapter Three also goes over the plotting of the campaign, including the matter of how it “ages” and takes on new priorities over time. At some point, every campaign ends as the players' priorities change (they move out of town, for instance) or the natural conflicts or goals of the PCs come to a head. Some characters who are built around a certain motive might accomplish their life's goal, and may retire if they don't know what to do next. The authors suggest certain methods for preventing a campaign from “aging faster than it should.” In some cases this involves rolling with the natural development of the campaign, such as ending Hunted Complications or progressing relations with NPCs, in order to move the spotlight between PCs. Other times it's simply advised to take a break from the game.
Next the chapter discusses writing in terms of Villain (or antagonist) and Plot. In terms of the game-to-game development, the simplest plot is just 1. Get somebody in trouble 2. Get that person in more trouble 3. Get that person out of trouble. An antagonist is someone whose goals are going to bring him in conflict with the protagonists. These two factors of villain and plot intersect when the heroes are brought into the mix- either because the person in trouble somehow knows them or because the villain targets a hero directly. Of course as the text admits, “no adventure plan ever survives contact with the players!” For instance a villain might stage an assault on a museum without realizing that one of the PCs works very close by in his Secret ID (in this case, because the GM himself forgot that little detail). In which case the GM has to improvise. In fact the book stresses, “The GM is almost always wrong in some way where these estimations are concerned. If the GM isn’t usually wrong in at least some respects, he either has a frightening real-world prophetic ability or he’s forcing the PCs down a too-limited set of character options and not allowing them the freedom of action that’s one of the best features of roleplaying games.” There is also a GM random plot generator that has a whole bunch of sub-tables for things like random events and plot twists.
After discussion of writing adventures, Chapter Three looks over the usual Complications taken by Champions PCs, for instance whether a certain NPC counts as a Follower or a DNPC (basically, if he's competent and more help than liability he's a Follower, if he's more of a liability but the PC still has some personal reason to keep him around, he's a DNPC). Then there's expanded discussion of villains: hoodlums, master villains, villainous agencies, etc. In terms of the latter, there is some space given to the agency because as a group, it poses a longer-term threat for heroes that they cannot immediately vanquish, while in the short term it sets up groups of agents for the heroes to oppose. In Champions, villain organizations like VIPER usually have agents with stats and gear exceeding those of real-world elite soldiers, but the PCs are going to be so far above them that most fights between supers and agents are a cakewalk for the former. In some respect this is the idea; it gives the PCs a chance to show off in combat. But it also makes fights predictable. Ideas for making agents more of a challenge are several, but often come down to simple tactics: coordinating attacks, using distractions, etc. Solo villains are also discussed more in terms of their personalities or roles than powers (a Mercenary, for example, could have any sort of powers, but is defined mainly by his greed for money, which may mean either a strict professionalism and near-code of honor that he upholds to get a good resume, or an amoral attitude that means he'll throw out any scruples for cash). As with agents but more so, the GM needs to make “name” villains a challenge- not invincible, but not pushovers either. The book says it's OK to make a villain somewhat tougher than a given PC since the PCs are going to be pooling their tactics together whereas you're thinking for all the villains by yourself, and they're going to need an edge. They should also be challenging psychologically, either as interesting characters in themselves or as foes who are designed to challenge a PC's moral code or Psychological Complications. After looking at villains, the chapter also looks over a long list of NPC types who are very important to fleshing out a campaign setting: The local Mayor, street contacts, doctors/EMTs, media watchdogs, etc.
Finally, Chapter Three goes over the HERO mechanics of Superhero Combat And Adventuring, including how to set up a “fastball special” (especially when the 'throwee' has shapechange/density increase powers), and extended rules for breaking stuff. Like buildings. In particular there's some “sneak preview” rules from The Ultimate Base going over how a building loses structural integrity if it takes a certain amount of damage to its walls, and what happens if it should then collapse. There is also a one-page summary of Superhero-World Physics, with such points as “Characters Ignore Inconvenient Science” and “Size Alteration Does Not Impair Function.” Good to know.
Chapter Four: The Champions gives the 6th Edition stats for the current Champions (these are the 'beginner' 400 point stats, even though speedster Kinetik was not an original member of the team; the book says that the 'experienced' Champions' stats are in Champions Universe. These are followed by some of the game's classic villains like Green Dragon and Ogre. The background is much as it was in the 5th Edition Champions - for one thing, the Champions Online game says Defender has a Public ID and here, it's still a Secret ID. However, the alien gladiator Ironclad actually has a gladiator's sword, and some of the character origins, like the villainess Talisman, are written with a bit more pizazz than in the last edition.
Chapter Five: The Champions Sourcebook covers a few more elements that you'd expect in a superhero universe, starting with Gadgets (such as armored costumes and a Multipower of trick arrows). These also include “deathtrap” devices such as a lethal sandblaster or the Earthquake Inducer. This section is followed by rules for Vehicles and Bases, which for both genre and practicality are going to be very important to a PC hero team. Examples of such include land, underwater, and space/orbital bases, along with examples of base computer systems, space jets, etc.
Then you've got The Superhero Gallery, which is basically a means of generating superhero PCs on the fly. It resembles the Random Superhero generation system Allston came up with for the 5th Edition book, but here lists a basic type for each concept (e.g. Powered Armor) with a sidebar for the usual power set and three options for variation (in this case, Powered Armor Blaster, Powered Armor Brick and Powered Armor Gadgeteer). This model also closely (but not exactly) resembles the character generation options for the CHAMPIONS ONLINE MMORPG. This is followed by a Minion Gallery for “mooks” like street thugs, minor demons and of course Mole-Men. After this, there's an Index.
SUMMARY
This version of Champions, like the one Aaron Allston wrote for HERO 5th Edition rules, focuses not so much on being a HERO System game as being a guide for players and GMs on doing a superhero game with HERO System. Thus, if you have little idea of what a superhero RPG ought to look like, this book will be a good buy even if you don't normally play HERO System. It also might be helpful to those who for whatever reason haven't kept up with superhero comics, since it emphasizes a fairly traditional style. For those who already got Allston's 5th Edition book, the new version will look very familiar, but it includes 6th Edition versions of several major Champions characters and new examples for how to construct superheroes in 6E.
Style: 4
Champions is another example of how Hero's deal with Cryptic Studios paid off with some truly professional graphics and presentation.
Substance: 4
Champions also marries that clean presentation to Allston's text and Long's rules to produce a very worthy superhero game reference.
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