Rules5

= WARNING: OBSOLETE. Use the Revised Rules Files instead =

Contents of file: disads.rules
These files are DRAFT files containing proposed house rules for change to 5th edition

This is all we need from this file:

& disadvantage list & disad list - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- Below is a list of all Character Disadvantages in our game.

Accidental Change           Psychological Limitation Age                         Public Identity Berserk                     Reputation Dependence                  Rivalry Dependent NPC               Social Limitation Distinctive Features        Secret Identity Enraged                     Susceptibility Hunted                      Unluck Normal Cha Maxima           Vulnerability Physical Limitation

For information on any Disadvantage type RULES DISAD

& disad secret identity & disad secret id & disad sid - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- This is a Social Limitation but is common enough to be worth a rules file of its own. A character with a Secret Identity has a private persona that is completely divorced and separate from his public (hero/villain) persona. He leads the life of a normal person, with a job, friends, house, kids, etc, some of the time, but at other times (during a crisis, etc), he leads the life of a superhero.

Characters can reveal their "secret" identity to a FEW team mates and other heros without endangering the disadvantage.

& disad public identity & disad public id & disad pid - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- This is a Social Limitation but is common enough to be worth a rules file of its own. A character with a Public Identity is a famous public figure and will be known and recognized almost everywhere he goes. Such individuals have no possible underground or secret identity, and authorities, the press, and his enemies can usually find him. Other people will also know more about him, and can often take advantage of known Disadvantages (a DNPC, for example) more easily.

Notes:

A DNPC is a single specific individual OR a group or organization. The DNPC cannot be a 'flavor of the month' type. A stable, static group of individuals is ok.

We strongly recommend that Hunters should be groups or organizations. Having a solitary Hunter leads to potential complications. Either the Hunter must escape every time when captured or you'll be faced with buying the disadvantage off at some point.

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Everything else is covered in the 5th edition rulebook and can be deleted.

& disads & disadvantages - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- Creating a well-rounded individual as a character requires the character to have weaknesses as well as strengths and Powers. Your character's weaknesses, flaws, etc. are called Character Disadvantages, or simply "Disadvantages" for short. Disadvantages help define the personality of your character, help make him unique and set him apart from other similar characters, and most important of all can help give your GM ideas for interesting adventures involving your character.

From a technical perspective, Disadvantages also give your character more Character Points to spend (above and beyond the Base points).

The following topics are available for your perusal:

DISAD 2              Information on Disadvantages and how they work DISAD LIST           List of All Disadvantages in the Game DISAD   Information on the specific Disadvantage POINTS               An explanation of what Points are in Champions

For information on any of these topics, type RULES

& disad 2 - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- Disadvantages work based on the concept that for every good thing you give your character, there should be something bad to balance it. For each thing your character can do that makes him better than the average human, there should be something harmful that makes him worse than the average human too. An example from the comic books is Superman's susceptibility to Kryptonite. To you and me it's just a rock, but to him, it's lethal. This balances the fact that he's super-strong and nearly invulnerable. Now, this isn't exactly a 1-to-1 correspondence, because you get to start out with some free points that you don't have to balance with weaknesses (your Base Points: see RULES POINTS for more information).

But for any points you have in Powers, Skills, etc, that go above your Base points you MUST balance out with the same number of Points of Disadvantages. For example, if you have 250 Base Points, and your character's total cost for all his Characteristics and Powers is 350 points you must have 100 points of Disadvantages to make up the difference.

For more information see RULES DISAD 3

& disad 3 - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- You can have no more than 40 points in any one Disadvantages category. Thus, you can have two 20 point Psychological Limitations, but then that's it for the Psych. Lim. Disadvantage. All other Disadvantage points must come from elsewhere.

Remember, Disadvantages help define your character. Sometimes, players think that because they are weaknesses, Disadvantages are a bad thing, and you "don't want your character to have too many". Disadvantages are often extremely helpful in defining the personality of your character. ALL characters should have at least one or two Disadvantages. This might be in the form of a Psychological Limitation, a Reputation for being a Jerk, or almost anything.

For more information see RULES DISAD 4

& disad 4 - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- Please note the Basic Law of the Disadvantage:

"A DISADVANTAGE THAT ISN'T DISADVANTAGEOUS IS NOT WORTH ANY POINTS."

For instance, suppose you buy Physical Limitation: No Arms. Then you buy Extra Limbs (arms). In this case, there is no Disadvantage (you still have arms), so you don't get any points. A character who goes "Berserk on the Moon During a Meteor Shower on Wednesdays in January" would not ever realistically go berserk from this Disadvantage, and hence this is not worth any points. The Approval Reviewers will scrutinize all Disadvantages carefully to make sure they're worth the points you have listed for them.

Players should remember that Disadvantages are there to be used. If your character is Hunted by the Mafia, expect the Mafia to show up and try to take him out once in a while. Don't complain when it happens -- rather, enjoy it. Use it as an opportunity to help flesh out your character. Character development often happens best when the character is in dire straits.

For more information see RULES DISAD 5

& disad 5 - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- Basic rules of buying Disadvantages:

1. All Disadvantages must fit within the character concept.

2. All Disadvantages must be explained in your Background. For example, if you are Hunted by Viper, why are they after you?

3. For any Disadvantage that awards points based on "levels of effect" or  on how "common" something is, you must place those somewhere in the Disadvantage. For example, if you go Berserk when Shot, and you buy this as a "common" circumstance, you would list it something like this: Berserk when Shot (common) ...

4. Specify all numbers and effects. For instance, if you go Berserk when Shot on an 11 or Less chance, and you recover on a 14 or Less chance, you would list something like this: Berserk when Shot (common) on 11 or Less (Recover on 14 or Less)

& disad accidental change - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with Accidental Change will inadvertently change forms or identities. When the Disadvantage is taken the circumstances that trigger the change must be defined, as well as the chance that, when exposed to those circumstances, the character will change.

To buy this Disadvantage, first decide whether the circumstance that will trigger the change is Uncommon, Common, or Very common. Then decide how likely it is that the character will change forms when exposed to the circumstance you've just defined (this is the chance on a 3D6 roll).

& disad age & disad normal characteristic maxima & disad ncm & disad normal cha maxima - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with Age is not physically at his peak. Normally, characters are considered to be in ideal condition whatever their actual calendar age is. You are never required to take this Disadvantage, even for someone who is 97. However, if you wish to have a character who is physically below peak due to aging, you may purchase this Disadvantage for your character. Note: to take the Age Disadvantage, you must already have purchased the Normal Characteristic Maxima Disadvantage.

& disad berserk & disad enraged - [CM 2.0 Rules] - A character with Enraged will sometimes fly into an uncontrolled rage in which he loses control of his actions. Enraged characters automatically attack the person or object that enraged them. Once enraged the character will attack without concern for their own safety or any difficulties their team mates are in until the target of their rage is defeated or destroyed. Characters who have the Enraged Disadvantage must specify a set of conditions that set off their rage (the scent of blood, a full moon, etc). The player also decides how likely he is to go Enraged when faced with the triggering condition, as well as their chance to slow down and recover from it.

Characters who take the BERSERK option attack the nearest individual. If several are equally near whom they attack is randomly chosen by the GM. They pay no regard to friend or foe, and care nothing whether they are attacking a master villian or an innocent grandmother.

& disad dependence - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Dependence must have a certain substance, item, or event on a regular basis. If he cannot get the substance/item/event, he will start to slowly die. This Disadvantage can be used to simulate chemical addiction and other forms of dependency on something (or someone).

& disad dependent npc & disad dnpc - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Dependent NPC (DNPC for short) has a non-player friend, companion, relative, etc, who gets into trouble a lot, requiring the hero character to save him or her. The character defines how "competent" the DNPC is, and how often he gets involved in the character's adventures. The DNPC must be selected when the Disadvantage is taken. Other players, or GMs, will then play the DNPC for you.

The DNPC must be someone that the character feels obligated to protect for one reason or another. The DNPC also should be weak enough or have known weaknesses such that she must be protected. DNPC's are a Disadvantage. He might help the character once in a while, but most of the time he just gets into trouble and is a nuisance for the hapless character.

A DNPC is a single specific individual OR a group or organization. The DNPC cannot be a 'flavor of the month' type. A stable, static group of individuals is ok.

& disad distinctive features - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with Distinctive Features has some easily recognizable feature that is difficult to hide and marks him out as being unusual. Distinctive Features could be something like green skin, or a third eye, or a tail. It could also be a facial scar, an unusual body odor, or indescribable beauty. It can even be some distinctive personal habit the character displays even when it's inappropriate (always speaks in rhyme for instance).

& disad hunted & disad watched - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character who is Hunted is being pursued by some person or group of people who wish him harm of some sort. A character with a Hunted may have his pursuers show up in the middle of an adventure and attempt to do something nasty to the character. This can range from watching him to interrogating him to arresting him to trying to kill him. If they just watch him then the Hunted is called a "Watched" and is worth less points.

Hunters may be individuals, villain teams, or large organizations. Please note that you must have a good reason why the character is being hunted, and this reason must be outlined in your +BG.

& disad physical limitation & disad phy lim - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Physical Limitation has some sort of physical handicap that hampers him in some way. Some examples include: wheelchair bound, blindness, missing one hand. Physical limitations can also be used to represent some ability that everyone else in the world has but the character does not. For instance, if the character can't read, this would be a slight physical limitation. Similarly, "Unfamiliar with Earth Culture" might also be an appropriate physical limitation for an other-dimensional creature or Guild alien

Physical Limitations are good at representing what a character CANNOT do, no matter what. If it's something the character could physically do but WILL NOT, then it is more appropriately a Psychological Limitation.

& disad psychological limitation & disad psych lim - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Psychological Limitation has a mental quirk regarding a given situation or circumstance. The player defines how often the quirk occurs and how impairing it is. Remember to state how common the situation is and how intense the reaction is in your disadvantage description so the Approval Reviewers can check it, and GM's can play on it.

& disad public identity & disad public id & disad pid - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- This is a Social Limitation but is common enough to be worth a rules file of its own. A character with a Public Identity is a famous public figure and will be known and recognized almost everywhere he goes. Such individuals have no possible underground or secret identity, and authorities, the press, and his enemies can usually find him. Other people will also know more about him, and can often take advantage of known Disadvantages (a DNPC, for example) more easily.

& disad reputation - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Reputation will be known and recognized due to exploits before the campaign begins (what happens after game play commences gets you points in the form of Experience Points). Characters with a Reputation will generally have some facts known about them before people even meet them (if you have a Reputation for being Honorable, the villains might know this and take advantage of you). Reputation is NOT the same thing as Public Identity (PID). Public Identity means the general public knows the true identity of the character.

A Reputation, on the other hand, involves the characters "adventuring" persona. The character is "known" for something (greed, courage, murder, etc). The primary Disadvantage to a Reputation is that others will know (or think they know) how the character will act ahead of time, and can use that to their advantage. An extreme Reputation will almost always control the reaction of anyone who recognizes the character (otherwise, the recognizer *might* act based on the reputation, but might not).

& disad rivalry - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Rivalry is engaged in a not-so-friendly rivalry, either professional, romantic, or both. A Rivalry is not like a Hunted; the Rival is usually on the same side as the character (though not always). The Rivalry is more likely to affect the characters personal (non-public) life while a Hunted is more likely to affect his public life. If the Rival is another PC, then the other player MUST consent to the Rivalry (and of course, take it as one of his own Disadvantages, if he so wishes). In a Rivalry, the character always attempts to out-do his Rival in every way. The character acts this way even if it endangers the overall success of the team.

& disad secret identity & disad secret id & disad sid - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- This is a Social Limitation but is common enough to be worth a rules file of its own. A character with a Secret Identity has a private persona that is completely divorced and separate from his public (hero/villain) persona. He leads the life of a normal person, with a job, friends, house, kids, etc, some of the time, but at other times (during a crisis, etc), he leads the life of a superhero.

Characters can reveal their "secret" identity to a FEW team mates and other heros without endangering the disadvantage.

& disad susceptibility - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Susceptibility takes damage from objects or effects that do not harm most people. The character defines how frequently the damaging object is encountered, how often he'll take damage from it, and how much damage he'll take. If you are susceptible to some alien object not normally found on Earth, it is automatically uncommon.

& disad unluck - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with Unluck has improbable, unlucky things happen to him. The character will be asked to make Unluck rolls by the GM whenever he is winning easily in a fight, depending on a sure thing, taking a simple task for granted, etc. Depending on the GM, this roll might be made secretly. Unluck will not generally alter the outcome of an adventure, but it might make the character's life a little more difficult (and, hopefully, it'll be a little humorous as well).

& disad vulnerability - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Vulnerability takes extra damage from a particular attack form. The character determines how common the attack is, and what multiple of normal damage he will take.

Vulnerability may also be taken to things that do not do actual STUN damage. Characters may take extra "effect" from things like Mind Scan, Flash, Mental Illusions, etc.

& disad social limitation - [CM 2.0 Rules] --- A character with a Social Limitation has difficulty in some form with the social interactions normal to most persons in the campaign world. This might be having to keep an important secret, being famous or infamous, or being a member of a disadvantaged minority.