Need help with an upcoming campaign...

[zarglif69]

I'm planning for the PC's to meet their counterparts from an alternate Earth, who are a supervillain team. Can someone give me some suggestions for this? something original, that hasn't been done in the comic books before.

[SKJAM!]

Well, that's a tricky one. Most of the obvious "alternate world villains" plotlines have been used, one way or another.

One possibility that comes to mind is: The alternate-world versions of the player characters aren't really any different in terms of motivations--but the authorities have *labeled* them as villains for some reason.

For example, some adventure early in the campaign went horribly wrong in the alternate universe, causing the govenment to outlaw all uses of superhuman abilities except by federal agents who are kept in line with bombs implanted in their skulls. (Anyone who wouldn't be bothered by a skull bomb is either killed or imprisoned somehow.) The player-characters' equivalents refused to submit, and now the media treats them like babyraping Nazis.

Our heroes land in the alternate universe, discover that their counterparts have "gone bad", hilarity ensues.


SKJAM!
http://www..livejournal.com/users/skjam

[OddHat]

Originally posted by zarglif69
I'm planning for the PC's to meet their counterparts from an alternate Earth, who are a supervillain team. Can someone give me some suggestions for this? something original, that hasn't been done in the comic books before.

IT'S NOT SUCH A WONDERFUL LIFE

Your heroes see how much happier and more successful the personal and profesional lives of their villain counterparts are than their own. Furthermore, the heroes discover that the vilainous activities of their counterparts have ended world hunger, cured major diseases, eliminated countless menaces to society, and generally made the world far better for everyone. Your heroes attempts to stem the villainy of their counterparts leads to the threat of global economic colapse, mass starvation, and world war. Once they return to their own Earth, the heroes must ask themselves; Do they have the courage to embrace Evil?

[zarglif69]

whoa... like, whoa... that's really deep, man... *takes another puff on joint*
WHAT plane of existence are you from!?!?! putting the PC's in a situation where they HAVE to go evil!?!? Champions is all about being a HERO, not a villain!!! this might be appropriate for Dark Champions, but not the Champions Universe!!!

[Blue]

"Hasn't been done" is the hard part. So I'll just throw out some of the conventions of such games.
The villains are part of the establishment. They can be the enforcers/police force that are part of the tyranny that grips the world. You are the outlaws, though you are performing good deeds.
The heroes were brought together as a group by a common victory, but in an alternate world they were defeated. The villain then raised the heroes and commands these corrupt undead versions.
Something like the pending Champions v. SAS crossover, where neither the heroes or the vilains are from the alternate world. Both groups were brought to this world to fight one another. Only this would be long term, trying to one-up each other.

I guess it *has* all be done before.

[OddHat]

Originally posted by zarglif69
whoa... like, whoa... that's really deep, man... *takes another puff on joint*
WHAT plane of existence are you from!?!?! putting the PC's in a situation where they HAVE to go evil!?!? Champions is all about being a HERO, not a villain!!! this might be appropriate for Dark Champions, but not the Champions Universe!!!

A: Get your humor detector repaired. :)

B: You specified "Something original, that hasn't been done in the comics before." That's what you got.

You're welcome. ;)

[OddHat]

Originally posted by Blue

I guess it *has* all be done before.

Mine hasn't. :cool:

[Hermit]

Originally posted by zarglif69
I'm planning for the PC's to meet their counterparts from an alternate Earth, who are a supervillain team. Can someone give me some suggestions for this? something original, that hasn't been done in the comic books before.

These probably have been done before, but... options include

1) Reverse the Gender of the PCs' duplicates. If nothing else, it may raise a few eyebrows.

2) No major changes to their powers and none to their forms, but have the duplicates' out of costume do everything they can to mess up the PCs lives in Secret ID ("You broke up with ME, remember?")

3) Rip off "The One" and have the Duplicates more powerful than the PCs because they've been going off slaughtering the 'thems' of different worlds.

4) Change their powers radically to reflect something going wrong in each duplicates' history IF it makes sense. Sure, the mutant isn't likely to change much power wise, but what if the PC martial artist (who is normally dedicated and driven) meets his duplicate, who was too lazy to work for anything long term, and instead stole power armor.

5) The duplicates are not villains, but slaves. Destroyer or some other mastermind has captured them, and brainwashed them.

[Hugh Neilson]

Originally posted by OddHat
IT'S NOT SUCH A WONDERFUL LIFE

Taking off from the title, what if the PC's in question have either retired, never took up their superhero personas at all or never even received superpowers and, as a result, their personal and professional lives are vastly improved (more time to pay attention to the mundane world).

Meanwhile, their absemce has meant little to the world at large in that other heroes (already established in your campaign also) have risen to the challenge and defeatedany villains which were faced by the heroes in your campaign. This hits the players, more than the characters, where they live - you guys were accomplished nothing anyway.

Maybe there is a major threat that only they can deal with, bringing them some sense of importance (and maybe they have to reengineer their alternate selves to combat it).

Alternatively, perhaps the world is worse place due to our heroes' inactivity, and your players' challenge is to stimulate their alternate selves to act, and use their great power responsibly instead of selfishly. Nothing like a challenge that fists and energy blasts can't drive back!

[assault]

Some more things that have been done before:

Golden Age (or Silver Age, or whatever) versions of the same characters: perhaps the local equivalents are retired, or very young.

Perhaps they have vigilante mentalities, and lots and lots of Iron Age whininess.

The alternates could be being mind-controlled. The scenario is then to free them.

The alternates could be villains with similar powers, but aren't the same people.

The alternates could have been created specially by an ubervillain.

The alternates are really robots, mental projections, clones, blobs of protoplasm or whatever, created by Professor Preserver to defend Earth from the insidious alien invaders.

***
Ah, here we go: the alternates may be villains, but they are also the alternate Earth's ultimate defence against invaders!
***

It _has_ been done before: the Earth-3 Supervillains died trying to defend their universe in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, but still...

Alan

[MoonHunter]

While this was done in Excalibur, most people missed that story arc.

The characters are not all that different, yet the world they are in is very different.

Imagine a world where The Axis included the US, instead of Japan. Your counterparts are a bit more storm trooper in their outlook, but are still heroic vigilantees in a fascist state.

Imagine a world where the Russians won the cold war in the early 80s. Your counterparts are heroes with the Russian flare, not opposing the Russians politically (perhaps even supporting them), but simply stopping (organized) crime

Imagine a world where today looks and feels a great deal like a fantasy King Arthur story. The knights of the realm tend to have super powers.

You get the idea. Find a world that you feel comfortable running.

[sbarron]

Originally posted by OddHat
IT'S NOT SUCH A WONDERFUL LIFE

Your heroes see how much happier and more successful the personal and profesional lives of their villain counterparts are than their own. Furthermore, the heroes discover that the vilainous activities of their counterparts have ended world hunger, cured major diseases, eliminated countless menaces to society, and generally made the world far better for everyone. Your heroes attempts to stem the villainy of their counterparts leads to the threat of global economic colapse, mass starvation, and world war. Once they return to their own Earth, the heroes must ask themselves; Do they have the courage to embrace Evil?

This is a great idea OddHat. But I think you asked the wrong question at the end of it.

Do the Heroes have the courage to continue to do what's right once they have knowledge of the good they can attain by becoming evil?

It could probably be said more elequently, but I think you get the idea.

[Zed-F]

Originally posted by sbarron
This is a great idea OddHat. But I think you asked the wrong question at the end of it.

Do the Heroes have the courage to continue to do what's right once they have knowledge of the good they can attain by becoming evil.

It could probably be said more elequently, but I think you get the idea.

Think of it as the ultimate "ends justify the means" question.

[ChuckB]

How about if the villain-PC's dimension is under attack/disintegrating and they came to the good guy's Earth to steal their "dimensional energy" to keep their (the bad guys) Earth from falling apart ?

[Jeff]

I doubt it's a never-been-done thing, but it might make a better story to draw out another set of contrasts in addition to being on the other side. For instance, if the team's been bickering, seeing their evil counterparts caring about each other and cooperating - in the midst of being villains still - it might inflict an instructive bit of shame and keep the villains from being too two-dimensionally foul.