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). Sink - with primary abilities being drains or transfers a "Sink" can diminish, nullify or steal another characters powers, abilities or stats, either temporarily or permanently.Weaponmaster - with expertise at using a particular type of weapon ( Green Arrow / Swordsman).Speedster - with abilities based around movement ( Flash / Quicksilver).Powered Armor - a variant of a Gadgeteer, who uses an "all-in-one" gadget worn as armor ( Iron Man / Steel).Patriot - an embodiment of his or her nation ( Captain America / Captain Britain).Mystic - trained in the use of magic, or with abilities or items with magical properties ( Doctor Fate / Doctor Strange).Metamorph - abilities involving changes in shape and/or size ( Plastic Man / Mystique).Mentalist - abilities target the mind, not the physical foe ( Professor X / Jean Grey).Martial Artist (or martist for short) - lightly armored hand-to-hand combatant who fights with skill, quickness, and agility ( Daredevil / Wolverine / Batman).Gadgeteer - abilities based on technological devices ( Brainiac 5 / Forge).Energy Projector - primary combat ability is a ranged attack, which, despite the name, is not necessarily energy-based ( Cyclops / Starfire).Brick - slower hand-to-hand fighter who relies more on raw strength and tougher defenses ( Incredible Hulk / Colossus).As listed in the Champions genre book, they are: These are based variably on how they use their powers in combat, motivation, or the powers' origin. While Champions does not use "character classes" as some RPGs do, it does define common superhero archetypes as found in comic books. Books for other genres have also appeared over the years, including Star Hero, Dark Champions, Pulp Hero, and Ninja Hero.Ĭharacter archetypes and designs Archetypes Champions now exists as a genre sourcebook for the Hero System. 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. 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. Characters are rewarded with more character points after each adventure, which are then used to buy more abilities, or eliminate disadvantages. 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. Thus, Champions characters are built with friends, enemies, and weaknesses, along with powers and abilities with varying scales of character point value for each. Players are required not only to design a hero's powers, but also the hero's skills, disadvantages, and other traits. The stats in Champions are Strength, Constitution, Body, Dexterity, Intelligence, Ego, and Presence. This point system was praised by reviewers for the balance it gave character generation over random dice rolls. 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. 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. 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.