|
OPPOSE EVIL! FIGHT INJUSTICE! DEFEND THE HELPLESS!
JOIN THE GLOBAL GUARDIANS TODAY!
The
Global Guardians PBEM Universe is a shared-world Superhero PBEM campaign,
using the Hero System 5th Edition rules, published by Hero Games. By "shared world", we mean that,
though each campaign is run separately, they all generally take place in the
same world, at the same general time. This is a world in which the heroes of one
campaign can interact with the heroes of another quite easily.
The Global Guardians PBEM Universe is a
parallel world, quite similar to our own in some ways, and in others
very different. The geography is almost identical. Life
developed along the same lines. Wars were fought, and nations rose
and fell, all like they did in the real world. Historical events
and notable individuals are usually identical to those you find in the
real world. The biggest difference between the Guardians Universe
and the real world is the existence of people endowed with powers and
abilities far beyond those of common mankind. And their influence
is readily apparent.
The Global Guardians PBEM Universe is as
realistic as possible while simultaneously as four-color as possible.
Our aim is to recreate some of the best elements of comic book "reality"
in our gameworld while acknowledging that the real world is a pretty
neat place as well.
The Guardians Universe is based on a the
spirit and genre of superhero comic books. You don't have to be
familiar with the Hero System rules to play, but it is highly
recommended that if you want to participate in a Guardians PBEM
campaign, you be familiar with comic books.
How to Get Your Foot Into the
Door:
A Short Guide to Make Getting Into a Campaign Easier
When the GM of a game has an opening, he
or she will post an announcement to that effect on the Admin List, to
which all potential players must be subscribed. The announcement
will either include specific campaign requirements or will point you
to where those requirements are here on the website. If you are interested in joining the
campaign, submit a character to the GM directly. He will
then select the character or characters that best meet his or her
needs and forward that character or characters to the Senior Auditor.
The Senior Auditor will pass the character on to
one of the auditors (or audit the character himself) and correspond
with the player to make sure the character fits the standards of the
Guardians Universe.
Here are some quick tips to make everything easier.
Get familiar with the material.
Read the background information. Read all the house rules.
Get to where you're reasonably familiar with both. No one is going
to expect you to remember every detail, but you should go into it
knowing what is and is not allowed. If you have a question
regarding something you've read, by all means ask.
When it comes to your character, try and
be flexible. Try to remember that
the more detailed a game setting is, the more work you will have to
do in order to make your character fit. The Guardians Universe
is an incredibly detailed game setting. You will have to make
the effort if you wish to play, especially considering that the
other players fighting for your spot are. Never expect us to
change our requirements to fit you, your preferences, or your
character. This sounds harsh, but actually its just common
sense. The campaigns belong to us, after all, and thus we get
to set the requirements for characters. Also, keep in mind
that if you're flexible, you're in a better position than the guy
who refuses to change anything about his character when asked.
Be willing to change things regarding
your character. Yes, I know we
just said be flexible, but it bears repeating. We understand that
sometimes you are submitting a character who you've been running for ten
years and that you want your character to be just so. But if the
auditor says "I need you to do such-and-such to your character" and you
say "I'm not changing anything", you won't be allowed to play that
character. Always remember that the auditors reserve the right to
ask for changes to your character before it enters play. Please do
not get upset at this, as its not meant to be an inconvenience for you
and no one is saying that you have a bad idea for a character. The
creators of the Guardians Universe have specific ideas on what fits and
what doesn't fit in their universe, and they get to make these decisions
and rules because, after all, its theirs.
Don't be afraid to provide as much detail
as you can create. In fact, overdoing it is probably a good thing.
The more information you can provide
about your character, the better. However, when creating detail,
please keep in mind the suggestions about being flexible.
Don't crash and burn. There are
only three rules that will get you kicked out if you violate them, and
anyone with the sense God gave a goose already knows not to do any of
them in a PBEM. First, do not behave in a blatantly insulting
manner. Second, do not be excessively argumentative. Do not be
excessively or intentionally annoying.
Character Submission Format All
character submissions should be either in an unformatted Microsoft
Word document or in Plain Text format. "Unformatted" in this
sense means no tables, special formatting, no sidebars, no special
spacing, and no HTML imbedded in a word document. Just a
plain document. Either way, please send the submission as an
attachment if absolutely possible.
Always remember to include your
email address in the submission (and if you send the character
submission in two documents, the background and the character
sheet, remember to put the player's name and email address into
both documents).
Please note that if any of this information is missing, the
character will be returned to the player for completion and
resubmission.
The first part of the character
submission, the background information, is divided up into seven
sections: the Header Information, Background Story, Quote,
Quote About Him, Personality, Appearance, and Powers.
- Header
Information: The Header Information is the character's
real name, the player's name, the character's affiliation (if
any), the character's hair and eye color, the character's
height and mass (in meters and kilograms), the character's
nationality, and the character's place of birth and age.
-
Background Story: The Background Story describes the
character's history and origin. It should describe how the
character became what he is now, where and how he learned his
skills and developed his powers. It should justify his
Disadvantages as much as possible. Please remember to
write the history in third person unless you have a very good
reason for writing it in first person. Either way, keep it
in third person.
- Quote
and Quote About Him: These quotes should be a sentence or
two, and should give a quick insight into the character, both
from his own perspective and the perspectives of those who
either know or have encountered him. Try very hard to make
sure that the quotes have some zip and excitement to them.
-
Personality: This section covers the character's basic
psychological outlook (including all Psychological Limitations).
Explain in this section the character's motivation, and
personality quirks, likes and dislikes, and his general
philosophy of life. This section should add depth to your
character.
-
Appearance: This section described what the character
looks like... everything from his clothing or costume to things
like his height, weight, skin color, eye color, and hair color.
Don't forget things like any unusual odors or sounds. If
the character has any Distinctive Features, include them in this
description. Also include information about what his major
visible powers look like. The people who create the
character artwork for the website use this section as a
guideline, so put as much detail as possible into this section.
- Powers:
In this section, describe the nature of the character's powers
and how he uses them. Explain how his powers work and
describe their special effects. If he has any preferred
tactics or power stunts, describe them. If there are
things that he will not do with his powers, name them. Try
to create interesting visual images that set the character apart
from others of his genre.
The second part of the character
submission, the character sheet, is divided up into nine sections:
the Characteristics, Combat and Roll Information, Powers, Skills,
Martial Arts (if applicable), Talents, Perquisites, Disadvantages,
and Point Totals. Remember to include the point cost expenditures
for everything.
Characteristics: When listing characteristics, please
list them in the order of "Cost/Characteristic/Value".
Please do not list the total cost of the characteristics at the
end of the Characteristics section.Combat
and Roll Information: This section includes the
character's OCV, DCV, ECV, and Combat Phases, the character's
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception, and
Ego Rolls, plus his Resistant Defenses and Running Speed.
Powers:
In this section, please list Multipowers first, followed by
Elemental Controls, followed by all other powers. Write
the name or special effects of each power, followed by the power
type, the dice if applicable, and any adders the power might
possess. Then list any advantages (including the value of
each advantage) applicable to the power, followed by the total
Active Point cost of the power. Follow the Active Cost with any
limitations (including the value of each limitation) applicable
to the power (try to keep advantages and limitations
separated). Lastly, write the Endurance Cost of the
power. For example:
- Lightning Punch: Energy Blast
8d6
- Penetrating (+½)(60 Active Points); No Range (-½) End Cost: 6.
Skills:
List all skills alphabetically. If the skill has no
applicable skill roll, put down "N/A" instead. If the
character possesses a Skill Package, just list the cost of the
package, the skills gained by the package, and their applicable
skill rolls; do not list the value of each skill. If the
character has paid extra points to increase the value of a skill
gained from a package, remove that skill from the package and
list it separately, using the extra points paid as the cost.
If the character gains the same skill from two different
packages and does not spend any additional points on the skill,
list the skill separately with a cost of 0. Otherwise,
never separate the components of a package for any reason.
If the character has a Skill Enhancer (such as Linguist,
Jack-of-All-Trades, etc.), list the Enhancer and all applicable
skills (except those applicable skills found in Skill Packages)
together.Martial
Arts: List the name of the art, followed by the maneuvers
the character knows. Include the OCV and DCV modifiers,
the cost of each maneuver, and the effects of each maneuver.
If the martial art is ranged, include the range modifier.
Follow the maneuvers with an alphabetical listing of the
associated skills taken by the character, if any. If the
character gains a package bonus, list its value, as well as the
total cost of the Martial Arts package. For example:
- Martial Punch: +2 OCV, +1 DCV,
8d6 Strike
Talents: List all Talents alphabetically.
Perquisites: List all Perquisites alphabetically.
Disadvantages: List all Disadvantages
alphabetically, by type of disadvantage.Point
Totals: List the total cost of the character's
Characteristics, the total cost of the character's Powers,
Skills, Martial Arts, Talents, and Perquisites, and the overall
total cost of the Character.
|
