[net.games.frp] V&V to CHAMPIONS conversion system

blumberg@ihuxw.UUCP (Marc R Blumberg) (08/10/85)

Here is my Villains and Vigilantes to Champions character conversion
system, 
a few weeks late. This system has been used on the V&V F.O.R.C.E.
module, the
Dawn of DNA module, and is currently being used to convert To Tackle
the TOTEM
module (when I get around to it). A friend of mine has similarly converted
Death Duel with the Destroyers and the Island of Doctor Apocalyspe (Elementals
fans take note!). If there is enough interest and I feel like typing
them in,
I'll post the characters at a later date.

						Marc R. Blumberg
						AT&T Bell Laboratories
						Naperville, IL
						ihnp4!ihuxw!blumberg
_______________________________________________________________________________

		Villains & Vigilantes to CHAMPIONS 
			Character Conversion
		__________________________________

IMPORTANT: This system is designed for use with the REVISED V&V, not
the 
original version.  As far as I'm concerned, the original version is
pariah.
All V&V stats and abilities can be found at the top of V&V character sheets,
usually next to the character picture, and just above the power
descriptions. 

NOTE: while converting stats, something called a BREAKPOINT is
mentioned. This
is a value at which a statistic becomes optimal (efficient). The value depends
on the cost of the stat and what other values are derived from it. Breakpoints
for STR and CON are (numbers divisible by 5) + 3, (i.e., 13, 18, 23). Break-
points for DEX are (numbers divisible  by 3) - 1, (i.e., 14, 17, 20).
This is
system is used by point-crunchers, but it this case it is warranted, as
V&V
characters tend to be weaker than Champions characters.

1) start with a copy of the V&V character to be converted, a blank CHAMPIONS
	character sheet, and plenty of scratch paper. 

2) fill in the following CHAMPIONS statistics from information found on
the V&V
	sheet, performing calculations as necessary.


	STATS
	_____

STR - take strength, round up to nearest 5 or breakpoint
DEX - take agility + 5, round up to nearest 3 or breakpoint
CON - take endurance, round up to nearest 5 or breakpoint
BODY - use (basic hits * 3), round up
INT - use intelligence directly
EGO - mostly a judgement call; start with intelligence, double if
character has
	the power WILLPOWER A, add bonuses of +2 due to
personality/history.
PRES - use charisma directly
COM - start with charisma and alter guided by the character picture

PD - calculate from STR, add (ADR/4) if the character has the power
ARMOR [A/B]
ED - calculate from CON, add (ADR/4) if the character has the power
ARMOR [A/B]
SPEED - calculate from DEX, round up, add +1 for every instance of the power
	SPEED BONUS
REC - calculate from STR/CON, multiply by (healing rate/2)
END - calculate from CON, or use power directly, whichever is greater
STUN - calculate from STR/CON/BODY, or use hit points directly, 
	whichever is greater


Misc. V&V attributes:
_____________________

if (weight > 300 lbs.) consider adding DENSITY INCREASE, Always On
if (damage mod. + HTH damage* > STR) consider MARTIAL ARTS
if (% detect danger > 60%) consider DANGER SENSE
if (% inventing > 60%) consider GADGETEERING or SPELLCASTING
for each inventing point, the character gets 1 luck/hero/fame&fortune
point 
	<optional house rules in some campaigns>
for each inventing point, the character gets 1 SCIENCE or LANGUAGE or
or INT-
	related skill
the character's inches in RUNNING is (inches of ground movement/16) - 
	if this is below or equal to 6", do nothing
	if this is above 6", consider extra inches of RUNNING
repeat for each movement mode (inches in mode) is (inches of movement/16)
for each level of experience, the character gets 1 SKILL LEVEL
for every 200 experience pts., the character gets a 1 pt. HERO/VILLAIN
BONUS -
	<that's roughly (experience pts./200)>

* each character has a "HTH damage" value in terms of 'xDy'
meaning 'roll x
y-sided dice' for the total damage done in HTH. for this equation, let
"HTH damage" be the product of x and y. Ex: 2d8 becomes 16.
___________________________________________________________________________

			POWER CONVERSION
			________________

All CHAMPIONS powers/skills/whatever will be in capital letters, except
where
I forgot to do so. V&V powers will be in lower-case. V&V powers
prefixed with
and asterisk (*) are not really powers at all, but disadvantages. These
are
also converted to their CHAMPIONS equivalent, and this is dealt with in
the
next section entitled BALANCING.


V&V		CHAMPIONS equivalent
___		____________________

Absorption - VARIABLE POWER POOL (MIMIC POOL), POWER TRANSFER 
Adaptation - LIFE SUPPORT
Android Body - buy stats/powers through IIF - android body
Animal/Plant Control - MIND CONTROL vs. animals/TK (animate) vs. plants
Animal/Plant Powers - see various sub-powers
Animated Servant - this can be done several ways, either a talented DNPC
	(worth little or no points), a separate character entirely, or
	allow the Servant's Master to buy a robot for 5 pts., building
	the Servant like a robot (a bit expensive).
Armor - ARMOR, DAMAGE RESISTANCE
Astral Projection - classic Champions version: DESOLIDIFICATION (not
vs.
	EGO powers), or I have my own variant (to be hopefully published)
	based on ghosts in Justice, Inc. I will post this separately.
Bionics - buy applicable stats/powers through an IIF - bionic parts 
Body Power - this varies, depending of which part of the body has the
power.
	powers like this may be bought through a focus, depending of 
	Obviousness and Accessibility.
Chemical Power - this combination yields a very playable chemical
power: 
	ELEMENTAL CONTROL: (CHEMICAL POWERS)
	ENTANGLE (use the "wall option" to create matter), 
	TUNNELING ranged (disintegrates non-living matter up to a
certain DEF),
	TRANSFORMATION ATTACK with "variable power" advantage (+1/2,
for powers 
	with effects which must be defined when purchased (Drains,
Transfers) 
	allows character to define the effect WITH EACH USE) for transmutations,
	EB NND (not vs. LIFE SUPPORT, CHEMICAL POWERS) to affect living
matter.

Cosmic Awareness - I tried writing this up for Champions several times,
and
	each time I come across the same problem: This is not a power
to be
	used casually, and it will only tell the character information the
	GM wants him to have anyway. It therefore falls under the
category 
	of "plot" power, along with others listed below. Plot powers
are 
	powers that the character does not necessarily pay points for,
and 
	it is under the complete control of the GM, usable only to
advance 
	the plot. If a character has Cosmic Awareness, pay no points and
	use the powers as written in the V&V rules. If it is a player 
	character, make sure that the player understands that information
	divulged is at the GM's discretion. If you absolutely must have
a
	Champions version of this, try Danger Sense, with the extra-
	dimensional (+1/2) advantage.  
Darkness Control - DARKNESS
Death Touch - RKA no range, TRANSFORMATION ATTACK, or BODY DESTRUCTION
Disintegration Ray - RKA or TUNNELING at range (vs. inanimate)
Devitalization Ray - END DRAIN/DESTRUCTION
Dimensional Travel - TELEPORT, extra-dimensional
*Diminished Senses - Physical Limitation
Emotion Control - MIND CONTROL (vs. emotions only +1/2) (vs. a specific
	emotion +1) or use this power straight out of Golden Age of Champions,
	if you can understand it.
Flame Power - EB not in water, EB DAMAGE SHIELD, FLIGHT, high ED (vs. 
	fire only +1)
Flight - FLIGHT, FTL
Force Field - Force Field
Gravity Control - TK (area), or Flight (area, use on others), or DENSITY
	INCREASE/SHRINKING (mass change only +1, use on others)
Heightened Etc. - Enhanced Senses, or Skill Levels
Ice Powers - ENTANGLE (dissipates in time, not vs. heat), ARMOR
Illusions - A: LIGHT/SOUND ILLUSIONS, +1/4 advantage to affect each
other sense
	up to +1, MENTAL ILLUSIONS
	    B: Inanimate - ENTANGLE, wall option
	       Animate - use Fantasy Hero summoning rules
Invisibility - INVISIBILITY
Invulnerability - DAMAGE RESISTANCE, DAMAGE REDUCTION
Life Support - LIFE SUPPORT
Light Control - FLASH, LIGHT ILLUSIONS, EB, RKA
Lightning Control - TK (to animate electrical current), RKA/EB (vs. electronic
	devices), SECURITY SYSTEMS
*Lowered Intelligence/Self Control - Psychological Limitations,
required EGO
	rolls, or Activation Rolls on various powers
Magical Spells - VARIABLE POWER POOLS, use Fantasy Hero rules for magic
spells
Magnetic Powers - TK (vs. metal)
Mind Control - MIND CONTROL
Mutant Power - this falls under the category of plot power, as the GM must
	carefully restrict its use. 
*Mute - Physical Limitation
Natural Weaponry - MARTIAL ARTS, SKILL LEVELS
Non-corporealness - DESOLIDIFICATION (not vs. EGO powers)
Paralysis Ray - EB (STUN only), RKA (no BODY, +1), Mental Paralysis
(?), STUN
	DRAIN/DESTRUCTION/NEUTRALIZATION 
Pet - use Justice, Inc. trained animal rules
*Phobia/Psychosis - Psychological Limitations
*Physical Handicap - Physical Limitations
Poison/Venom - NND (not vs. Life Support, etc.), MENTAL PARALYSIS based
on CON
Power Blast - ENERGY BLAST (EB)
*Prejudice - Psych. Lim.
Psionics - EGO ATTACK, EGO DEFENSE, any EGO Powers
*Reduced Etc. - lower the affected stats/powers/etc.
Regeneration - REGENERATION, high REC
Revivification - another plot power, characters should only return to life
	for special reasons, or it takes the fear out of death. If it
	advances the plot, the GM may arrange for a character to be
revived.
	For purists/masochist GMs, try REGENERATION, usable on others, usable
	when recipient is below -BODY pips (+2 advantage, and heavily
	discouraged).
Robotic Body - see Android Body (no EGO), or build character using
robot rules
Size Change - GROWTH/SHRINKING
Sonic Abilities - RKA, EB
Speed Bonus - high DEX, SPD, movement
Special Requirement - Limited Power Limitation
Special Weapon - any power through
irreplaceable/indestructible/personal FOCUS
Stretching - STRETCHING
Telekinesis - TELEKINESIS (TK) (NOTE: the weight limit of V&V TK is
wimpy -
	DO NOT do direct weight limit conversions, or the power will be
next
	to useless 
Telepathy - TELEPATHY, MIND SCAN, EGO DEFENSE
Teleportation - TELEPORT, (area effect usable on others for portals)
Transformation - INSTANT CHANGE (powers only in Hero form), SHAPE
SHIFT, 
	DISGUISE
Transmutation - TRANSFORMATION ATTACK
Vehicle - use vehicle rules (buy for 5 pts.)
*Vulnerability - susceptibility, vulnerability
Vibratory Powers - DESOLIDIFICATION, MISSILE DEFLECTION
Weakness Detection - FIND WEAKNESS
Water Breath - 5 pts. LIFE SUPPORT
Weather Control - this could be a plot power, or put together the following
	ELEMENTAL CONTROL: (all bought with extended area) 
	RKA <lightning>
	TK, EB <wind>
	DARKNESS <fog> (extended area technically illegal)
	ENTANGLE <snow, sleet>
	WIND <unpublished power, mainly affect velocity of fliers>
	RAIN <unpublished power, lowers perception/movement in an area>
Willpower - high EGO
Wings - buy FLIGHT through a FOCUS
___________________________________________________________________________

			BALANCING
			_________

Now that you have some rough idea of the character's stats and powers, let's
talk about point totals. Go through the stats, and figure out the CHAMPIONS
costs for the values listed. Go through the skills and powers list and 
determine things like power level (how many dice of attacks, how many points
of defenses, etc.). This is not dealt with here, because of two reasons;
If direct conversions are made, the resulting Champions character can
turn out
to be very low-powered (this can be seen in the case of Telekinesis). Also,
power levels vary between campaigns, so the resulting characters may or
may
not fit correctly in your campaign. Take the time to do some power level
matching between the newly-converted character and existing characters in
your campaign.

Next, the disadvantages. The combat-oriented disadvantages (vulnerabilities,
physical and psychological limitations) can be pulled from the power
list above.
The background-oriented disads (hunteds, monitoreds, public/secret identities)
can usually be found in the character background description.
Again, determine the point levels for these disadvantages. Add any HERO/VILLAIN
BONUS determined from the V&V character's experience points. The
resulting total
must be balanced against the characters stat and power total. This can
be done
in any manner, but if the discrepancy is over a few hundred points as
it can
be with major villains, just put it down as a BONUS.

___________________________________________________________________________

Villains and Vigilantes(tm) is copyright by Fantasy Games Unlimited.
CHAMPIONS(tm) is copyright by Hero Games.
Neither of them know this is going on.