Champions

Description

Champions, first published in 1981, was inspired by Superhero: 2044 and The Fantasy Trip as one of the first published role-playing games in which character generation was based on a point-buy system instead of random dice rolls. A player decides what kind of character to play, and designs the character using a set number of "character points," often abbreviated as "CP." The limited number of character points generally defines how powerful the character will be. Points can be used in many ways: to increase personal characteristics, such as strength or intelligence; to buy special skills, such as martial arts or computer programming; or to build superpowers, such as supersonic flight or telepathy. This point system was praised by reviewers for the balance it gave character generation over random dice rolls. The stats in Champions are Strength, Constitution, Body, Dexterity, Intelligence, Ego, and Presence.

Players are required not only to design a hero's powers, but also the hero's skills, disadvantages, and other traits. Thus, Champions characters are built with friends, enemies, and weaknesses, along with powers and abilities with varying scales of character point value for each. This design approach intends to make all the facets of Champions characters balanced in relation to each other regardless of the specific abilities and character features. Characters are rewarded with more character points after each adventure, which are then used to buy more abilities, or eliminate disadvantages.

The system

Players can design custom superpowers using the Champions rules system. Rather than offering a menu of specific powers, Champions powers are defined by their effects. For instance, an energy blast is the same power regardless of whether it represents a laser beam, ice powers, or magic. The Champions rulebook includes rules governing many different types of generic powers which can then be modified to fit a player's idea.

This allows players to simulate situations found in superhero stories. Like most comic book heroes, characters and villains are frequently knocked out of the fight but seldom killed. There are special rules for throwing heavy objects like aircraft carriers.

History and other genres

The Champions system was adapted to a fantasy genre under the title Fantasy Hero (the first playtest edition of Fantasy Hero appeared before Champions was published), with similar advantages and disadvantages to the original Champions game. In 1984, the rules for Champions began being adapted into generic role-playing game system called the Hero System, although no formal and separate generic release of this as a standalone system would occur until 1990; instead the Champions rules would be edited down, expanded, and otherwise adapted on an individual basis for a variety of different genre treatments, such as pulp and modern espionage. Champions now exists as a genre sourcebook for the Hero System. Books for other genres have also appeared over the years, including Star Hero, Dark Champions, Pulp Hero, and Ninja Hero.

Character archetypes and designs

Archetypes

While Champions does not use "character classes" as some RPGs do, it defines common superhero archetypes as found in comic books. These are based variably on how they use their powers in combat, motivation, or the powers' origin. As listed in the Champions genre book, they are:

It is possible for a character to fall into multiple categories, such as Superman (brick/energy projector/speedster/patriot), Batman (martial artist/gadgeteer), or Spider-Man (martial artist/speedster/gadgeteer). It is also common for characters not to fall into any easily defined category—these categories are simply to provide easy definition and have no impact on gameplay.

The Champions Team

The Champions superhero team is presented as an example of how to build a well-balanced team in terms of game mechanics, including the hero Flare. Their enemies include Foxbat and Doctor Destroyer.

Setting

Much of the game is set in Millennium City. After its destruction by Dr. Destroyer, Detroit was rebuilt and renamed.

MMORPG

A massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the license was announced by Cryptic Studios, who had developed the popular City of Heroes and then reinvented Marvel Universe Online to Marvel Heroes. The game was released in September 2009. The game takes place in the established Champions universe and features classic Champions heroes and villains as NPCs.

Flextiles game supplement

Flextiles is a 1983 role-playing supplement for Champions. It is published by Hero. Craig Sheeley for Space Gamer commented in a review that "...the Flextile concept is a good idea, but not at the price Flextiles sell for now. Cut the cost [...] and they'd be much better."

Reception

Steve Perrin reviewed Champions for Different Worlds magazine and stated that "All in all, an excellent effort. If donning your colorful costume and flying out the window to fight crime in your never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American Way is for you, buy this game."

In the January 1982 edition of Ares, Eric Goldberg noted the "sketchy" design of the first edition, and yet believed that "in many ways, it is sufficient... What enables the designers to get away with this minimalist approach is an unswerving devotion to the philosophy and to the spirit of the superhero comic, which itself has never pretended to be terribly complex."

In the April–May 1982 edition of White Dwarf, Dave Morris liked the first edition combat system, calling it "a good simulation of comic-book battles". But Morris questioned whether players would enjoy playing superheroes rather than more ordinary characters found in most other role-playing games. He gave the game an average rating of 7 out of 10, saying, "All the same, the occasional bout of world-saving might be enjoyable, and Champions is worth buying on this basis alone."

Reviews for two editions of the game appeared in Dragon:

In the January 1982 edition, Scott Bennie liked the well-written and concise text of the first edition, but noticed many gaps and holes in the rules, including a lack of any system for buying equipment. Nevertheless, Bennie gave the game a thumbs up, saying, "Despite these flaws, I heartily recommend Champions. The more serious gamer will undoubtedly be put off by the silliness, and not everyone has a comic-book mind. But if you like this sort of thing, Champions is for you!"

In the October 1990 edition, Allen Varney disliked the slow pace of the 4th edition combat system. But he concluded with a strong recommendation, saying, "Fans of previous editions will delight in the new consistency and versatility. Experienced players of other games, discontent with the arbitrary restrictions of their current system, should also find the HERO SYSTEM rules a superb investment. Lastly, for comic-book fans who want to simulate every maneuver they see in their favorite stories, the Champions game remains, after almost 10 years, the system to beat."

Other reviews and commentary

InQuest No. 27, July 1997 (for 5th edition)

Comics Feature #36

Awards

At the 1999 Origins Awards, Champions was inducted into the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame

Three Champions adventures won ENnie Awards:

In 2004, in the "Best Non-D20 Adventure" category, Champions Battlegrounds won a gold medal, and Shades of Black won a Silver Medal

In 2005, Villainy Amok won a silver medal for "Best Adventure"

In other media

Comics

Starting in June 1986, a comic book limited series was published by Eclipse Comics based on characters from the first Champions campaign. The Eclipse series included character sheets that allowed readers to incorporate characters used in the comic books into their own Champions campaigns; this practice was also used in the Villains and Vigilantes comic book limited series (also published by Eclipse in 1986–1987).

Soon after Eclipse's initial limited series, an ongoing Champions series was published by Hero Comics (later Hero Graphics, later still Heroic Publishing) from 1987 to 1993.

As of 2024, Heroic Publishing was still publishing comics about some of the Champions characters (under the title League of Champions), although the publisher had long since parted ways with the makers of the game.