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| Cover to 1981's Champions RPG first edition Art by Mark Williams |
Sometimes The Deathstroke Files likes to get off the beaten path and explore things that are only tangentially/barely connected to Deathstroke. Sometimes the connection is only by name. This is one of those days.
TSR released Dungeons & Dragons on an unsuspecting public in 1974 expecting to sell about 50,00 copies to some specialty hobbyists, make a nice little profit, and then to move on to the next project. But what they had actually done was helped to spark a new, social entertainment phenomenon: The pencil and paper, or tabletop role-playing game. Combining statistics, strategy, mathematical probability, real-time decision-making, and a fantasy setting RPGs provided a level of complexity and sophistication to a gaming experience that was still years away from the home videogame revolution.
Empire of the Petal Throne, Traveller, Journal of the Travellers Aid Society, Call of Cthulhu, and Paranoia followed Dungeons & Dragons expanding both the number of games to be played, but also introducing new fictional genres to explore. Licensed properties soon followed bringing the RPG experience to the worlds of Star Trek, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Marvel Super Heroes, and DC Heroes (where our own Deathstroke appears). Despite some vigorous, yet utterly misguided and uninformed cultural pushback from pastors and psychologists during the "Satanic Panic" of the early-to-mid 1980s, RPGs survived and are experiencing a revival today thanks in part to the public endorsement of celebrity gamers like Wil Wheaton, Hank Green, DC Extended Universe's own Deathstroke: Joe Mangienello, Kevin Smith, Stephen Colbert, Patton Oswalt, and numerous others.
In 1981, Hero Games broke into the RPG scene debuting a new genre, the superhero adventure, which Marvel and DC would both follow in due time. For the first time, Champions: The Superhero Role Playing Game, by Steve Peterson and George MacDonald, allowed role-playing gamers to perform their own acts of heroism in their own worlds of superpowers and spandex. Champions gameplay was dictated by the Hero System that defined and categorized different heroes and villains and set the statistical parameters for these characters to battle one another. The Hero System has since been adopted by many other RPGs and even MMORPGs to facilitate the super action.
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| Champions third RPG adventure: Deathstroke From left to right, Deathsinger, Frost, Death Commando, Arrowhead, and Stinger Art by Mark Williams |
Hero Games' Champions RPG was successful enough that new adventures were created to satisfy customer demand. In 1983, the third campaign was released titled Deathstroke, that featured a deep and twisting story that challenged any group of heroes that choose to take on the challenge. Deathstroke, written by Kevin Dinapoli with art by Mark Williams, is an adventure in three parts, the opening scene of which appears below.
Prologue
"This is your eyewitness corresponent, Gyro Jim, on the scene of one of the most dramatic blackmail attempts to ever hit this city. About twenty minutes ago, five armored men led by a super villain calling himself DOCTOR DEATH attacked and took over the First National Bank here in the financial district. Within seconds of the attack, the security guards were over-powered and everyone in the bank was taken hostage. [sic]
"Five minutes ago, all but ten of the hostages were released and the evil band's terms were known. DOCTOR DEATH and his cronies are demanding half a billion dollars and safe conduct [sic] out of the country or they say that they will explode a nuclear device that they have assembled in the bank. The released hostages have confirmed that some sort of glowing device had been constructed. The authorities are attempting to negotiate now. This is Gyro Jim reporting the news as it happens."
The Plot
In accuality, this whole operation is a setup. DOCTOR DEATH and his cronies are really Agents of DEATHSTROKE. DEATHSTROKE is using the blackmail attempt to lure heroes in the area away from possible interference with the real objective, the theft of some rare isotopes by an elite Battle Squad. The heroes at the bank must be fooled into thinking that this is a real crisis an they must be detained at the bank until the Battle Squad has finished its mission.
Shortly after the heroes arrive on the scene of the blackmail attempt (2D6 segments after the heroes have gotten to the scene) a SAT fire team will roar up on motorcycles. The team leader will approach the heroes, flash his credentials, and suggest a joint operation. This SAT fire team is actually DEATHSTROKE in disguise, making sure that the other agents will have plenty of time to steal the isotopes.
The SAT team will attempt to pair off with the heroes as they take up their positions. Once everyone involved is in place, DEATHSTROKE will have one phase of surprise in which to attack the heroes.
The Deathstroke adventure, which the website RPG Geek describes as an "embarrassment of riches," that is "well-detailed," with "sub-plots and backup plans for nearly every possible options [sic]." But the team Deathstroke is pretty cool too. Deathstroke is made up of the villains Deathsinger, Frost, Death Commando, Arrowhead, and Stinger all working for the mastermind known as Doctor Death. Posted below are revised Champions character profiles relative to Deathstroke and its members. As always, for best viewing results, open the images below in their own tabs.
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| Art by Mark Williams Image Source: SUPERS! The Comic Book RPG |
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| Art by Mark Williams Image Source: SUPERS! The Comic Book RPG |
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| Art by Mark Williams Image Source: SUPERS! The Comic Book RPG |
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| Art by Mark Williams Image Source: SUPERS! The Comic Book RPG |
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| Art by Mark Williams Image Source: SUPERS! The Comic Book RPG |
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| Art by Mark Williams Image Source: SUPERS! The Comic Book RPG |
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| Art by Mark Williams Image Source: SUPERS! The Comic Book RPG |
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| Art by Mark Williams Image Source: SUPERS! The Comic Book RPG |
