Champions RPG - Reviews, Resources, & More

Ranked #10,065 in Hobbies, Games & Toys, #135,818 overall

Champions - The Original Superhero RPG!

The first role-playing game I ever purchased was Champions, at the age of 12. I couldn't give a rat's ass then about dungeons, dragons, orcs, or elves. I wanted to fight Dr. Doom! I already had been creating superheroes in my school notebooks for years. Simple costume drawings only, but living breathing in my own mind. So when I found the Champions paperback on the shelves of Capt. Matt's Comics (a walk-in closet in the back of a convenience store), my mind was blown. I'd never really been exposed to role-playing. I thought I was picking up a weird over-sized comic. Instead I saw descriptions of superhero powers with all kinds of numbers and "costs" listed. A section in the book read like a script in a play. The people in it talked to some guy called the "GM" in the first person, as if they were superheroes. The GM would tell them to roll dice. I realized finally that I was holding a GAME! And in this new type of game (it didn't seem to have a board or game pieces), I could recreate these characters from my sketchbook and write my own stories for them.

Meanwhile my other buddy just discovered some game called Dungeons & Dragons. His came in a fancy red box with a bunch of different shaped dice. His game won out a lot when it came time to decide what to play on game night.

This page is for all of you, who like me voted for SUPERHEROES!

Important!

Getting Started with Champions

Hero System 5th Edition (Revised)

Also known as FRED (Fifth Revised EDition)

If you're looking to get into Champions, you first have to get the Hero System rulebook. At $49.95, it's a great value considering the thing is HUGE and full of GREAT content. It's like a hardcover phonebook. It really has everything you need to play the game. The complete rules for D&D 4th Edition will set you back $60 and there's not nearly as much content (although D&D has beautiful full color art).

Hero System 5th Edition (revised)

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Used Price: $34.99

Release Date: 01/01/2004

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"Yeah, but can it stop a bullet?"

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Champions 5th Edition Genre Book

With the release of the comprehensive 5th Edition rules, Champions was this time published separately from the game system rulebook. All the rules required to play a superhero game are in the 5th Edition rulebook, but the Champions Genre book provides a superhero setting, characters, tips, and adventures. It's great reading too. Aaron Allston wrote many classic Champions modules during the 3rd Edition era.

Champions

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Release Date: 12/31/1969

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Champions Universe Sourcebook

It's not uncommon for RPG companies to flood the market with expensive books and modules that are little more than fluff. These Champions books are the opposite. They're lower priced and contain more entertainment value than most expensive game books.

The first setting book for Champions details the world of the "Champions Universe," from the glittering buildings and high-tech streets of Millennium City, to the shadowy alleys of Vibora Bay, to alien and undersea civilizations that may pose a threat to humanity. It provides a complete world for superhero gaming, with information on the impact of superhumans on technology, the media, politics, and more!

Champions Universe

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Used Price: $11.21

Release Date: 12/31/1969

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Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks (CKC)

This is my favorite of the 5th Edition Champions books. I was always a huge fan of the "Enemies" booklets, so to have small phonebook full of great bad guys was just awesome! The artwork is really great in this book, as artists LOVE to draw single posing figures and costume design.

Conquerors, Killers & Crooks (Champions)

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Release Date: 12/31/1969

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Other Champions RPG Sourcebooks

UNTIL Superpowers Database by Steve Long

UNTIL Superpowers Database by Steve Long

UNTIL, the United Nations's quasi-military arm, keeps detailed records on all known superhumans and superpowers. Now we open up their files, providing descriptions and HERO System write-ups for dozens of superpowers perfect for any Champions campaign. It's the ideal resource for players and GMs who need to create a new character quickly.1 point

Millenium City by Darren Watts

Millenium City by Darren Watts

Built over the ruins of the old city of Detroit, Millennium City is truly the city of the future. Filled with the latest high-tech advances, and home to America's premiere superteam the Champions, it's a paradise for many - but a prison or a target for others. Millennium City details this part of the new Champions Universe, providing a campaign setting and options for Champions GMs.0 points

Viper by Scott Bennie; Steve Long

Viper by Scott Bennie; Steve Long

The most infamous organization of the new Champions Universe, VIPER is an organized criminal/terrorist group bent on world domination and other nefarious aims. In this book, its inner workings are revealed, with write-ups for dozens of weapons, vehicles, NPCs, and supervillains!0 points

Character Creation Handbook (Hero System) by Steven S Long

Character Creation Handbook (Hero System) by Steven S Long

YOU VE GOT CHARACTER One of the HERO System s greatest strengths is its character creation rules, which allow you to create any type of character you can dream up and to define his abilities as precisely as you need. The basic rules in Chapter One of The HERO System 5th Edition, Revised rulebook, combined with the more advanced or genre-specific rules in various HERO System books, provide the most detailed and flexible character creation rules available. To help your game run as smoothly and enj...0 points

Ultimate Vehicle by Bob Greenwade, Steven Long

Ultimate Vehicle by Bob Greenwade, Steven Long

The second in our Ultimate series, this book focuses on vehicles from chariots to starships. It contains suggestions and rules options for building vehicles and the characters who use them, as well as a selection of pre-built vehicles spanning multiple genres.0 points

The Ultimate Mentalist (Hero System) by Steven S. Long

The Ultimate Mentalist (Hero System) by Steven S. Long

THE POWERS OF THE MIND Few things fascinate gamers as much as mental powers the ability to read (or control) minds, to move physical objects with just a thought, to foresee the future, to fight entire battles in one s mind. But while intriguing, psionic abilities can also prove difficult to handle in a gaming context, due to the potential for overwhelming power. Creating and playing a mentalist character can be a real challenge. The Ultimate Mentalist is your guide to mental powers and character...0 points

The Ultimate Brick by Steven Long, David Rakonitz

The Ultimate Brick by Steven Long, David Rakonitz

The latest in Hero's line of Ultimate books addresses that favorite topic of gamers everywhere - Strength. While it focuses on the powers and abilities of "brick" superheroes so common to Champions, like Hero's other Ultimate books The Ultimate Brick has rules, information, and other useful material for any genre of gaming. If you want to know how strong your Fantasy Hero character has to be to lift an ox, how your superhero can squeeze coal into diamonds, or how an imme...0 points

The Ultimate Skill (Hero System) by Steven S. Long

The Ultimate Skill (Hero System) by Steven S. Long

SKILLFUL GAMING No matter what genre you choose or setting you use for your HERO System campaign, one constant is Skills. Virtually every character, from the most powerful superhero to the weakest peasant, has at least a few Skills, and some characters depend on them every adventure to get things done and keep themselves alive. The Ultimate Skill is your guide to Skills in the HERO System, with advanced, expanded, and optional rules covering every aspect of Skills and Skill use. It includes: exp...0 points

Stronghold (Champions RPG) by Steven S Long, John Lees

Stronghold (Champions RPG) by Steven S Long, John Lees

Supervillains are a tough bunch. Some can lift dozens of tons effortlessly. Others teleport, walk through walls, cast spells, or control peoples minds. How do you keep someone like that in an ordinary prison? You dont you keep them in a superprison. Stronghold describes just such a facility, tailor-made to hold your campaigns villains. It includes: a thorough discussion of what happens to a villain in the judicial system, from the time hes captured to the time they shut his prison cell door, inc...0 points

Villany Amok (Champions RPG) by Scott Bennie

Villany Amok (Champions RPG) by Scott Bennie

This sourcebook for Champions describes dozens of standard comic book plots - alien invasion, superhero weddings, bank robberies, instant super-power drugs, and more - with notes on how to run them, a short sample adventure for each, and the characters and maps you need to run that scenario. It's the perfect resource for Champions GMs, and players will appreciate the information and rules on how to deal with these situations.0 points

Cops, Crews, and Cabals (Champions RPG) by Steven S Long

Cops, Crews, and Cabals (Champions RPG) by Steven S Long

Big organizations like VIPER, UNTIL, and DEMON dominate the Champions Universe . . . but that doesn't mean they're the only organizations out there. In a world of superhumans, dozens of companies, interest groups, and conspiracies exist to help, hinder, or exploit them, or to give ordinary people a way to cope with them.0 points

Arcane Adversaries (Champions RPG) by Hero System

Arcane Adversaries (Champions RPG) by Hero System

Arcane Adversaries describes some of the most fiendish denizens of the shadows for your Champions campaign. Even if your heroes are powerful enough to handle mundane supervillains without any problem, you'll find something eerie and macabre to challenge them among the Arcane Adversaries!
Three dozen new supervillains, ranging in power from the likes of the imprisoned elder god Vulshoth and the Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca to physically frail human wizards who nevertheless command potent magics0 points

Villains, Vandals, And Vermin (Champions RPG) by Hero System

Villains, Vandals, And Vermin (Champions RPG) by Hero System

VILLAINY UNLEASHED! Time for another dose of fiendish villainy!

Villains, Vandals, And Vermin introduces sixty new villains for Champions campaigns, ranging from low-powered costumed crooks to villains powerful enough to singlehandedly threaten the world. It includes:

the master villain Sunburst and his supervillainous henchmen

three villain teams: the Brain Trust, a group of strange villains led by a living brain; the Crimelords, a mercenary supervillain team; and the Tiger Squad, the offici...0 points

Champions of the North (Champions RPG) by Scott Bennie

Champions of the North (Champions RPG) by Scott Bennie

INTO THE NORTH The United States isn t the only place in the Champions Universe with superheroes and villains! Superhumans exist all over the world, and nowhere more prominently than Canada. Though it seems like a calm and easygoing place to many outsiders, the Great White North is home to more than a few superbattles, villainous plots, and evil conspiracies... just the sort of things your heroes need to deal with! Champions Of The North is your guide to Canada in the Champions Universe. It incl...0 points

Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth by Allen Thomas

Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth by Allen Thomas

From within the heart of the insidious organization VIPER, a new evil has arisen... one that wishes to conquer both VIPER and Earth! Can your heroes survive the challenges to come and save humanity from the clutches of King Cobra and his minions of COIL?0 points

The Ultimate Energy Projector (Hero System 5th Edition) by Steven S. Long

The Ultimate Energy Projector (Hero System 5th Edition) by Steven S. Long

One of the most popular archetypes in roleplaying games is the energy projector - the character who commands the awesome, elemental powers of energy, whether he's a Fire Bolt-flinging wizard in a Fantasy game, a superhero who glows with raw power as he shoots beams of pure energy, or an energy-manipulating alien in a Science Fiction setting.

The Ultimate Energy Projector is your guide to creating and playing energy projectors in the HERO System. It deals with all facets of energy projection pow...0 points

Hero Games Website

www.herogames.com

Important!

From the Makers Of City of Heroes

Champions Online: The SUPER MMORPG!

The future is bright for superhero gamers indeed. Cyrptic, makers of City of Heroes, is producing Champions Online. Here's the trailer for the game, some gameplay footage, and some updates from GenCon Indy 2008.

Champions Online -- Gencon 6 0 points

Champions Online -- Gencon 7 0 points

Champions Online Debut Trailer 0 points

Champions Online E3 2008 Gameplay Trailer (HD) 0 points

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CHAMPIONS PLAYERS DO IT WITH MORE DICE!

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Important!

Free Champions Stuff!

Hero Games offers a lot of free resources for Hero gamers. Their page below contains lots of great stuff to use in your next Champions adventure.

http://www.herogames.com/freeStuff.htm

Get That Hard-to-Find Champions Adventure on eBay

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1st Edition Champions

Champions: The Super Hero Role Playing Game (Revised Edition) [BOX SET] by George MacDonald, Steve Peterson

Champions: The Super Hero Role Playing Game (Revised Edition) [BOX SET] by George MacDonald, Steve Peterson

CONTENTS: 80 Page CHAMPIONS Rulebook 16 page VIPER more...0 points

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