BishopofB&W Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Originally posted by Storn The hardest costume and drawings I've ever had to tackle was my own character Vector in the long running RDU. His costume changed as he did. In the beginning, it was a vest and flight goggles, gloves, baggy pants...he was a pilot after all. At the end, his outfit is stately, as befitting a politician and statesman. It screams authority. Oh, yes, there is power in a costume. I draw so many, I can affect the way players play their characters by an illustration and by that specific costume. I've seen it happen. Costume (or lack of), personality, codename and appearence are a parts of a whole. But costume and codename are symbols... symbols have power. Hence the word; "iconic" Didn't you write an article on this subject for RPG.net? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rage Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Putting on a costume refocuses you, I have found that in my acting gigs you can channel the character much more easily. And in my wrestling gigs (with my lucha mask) a couple of years ago and when I am in my firebreathing rags people just respond to you differently. Not only that but you can't help swaggering a little, or somehow getting your voice to sound a little more ragged. It just does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BishopofB&W Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 I thought I remembered this. Nice article, Storn! http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/Hero_for_a_Day_various_5_1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayday Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Storn, well said! Almost all of my characters have had Secret ID but few campaigns last more than 1 or 2 days so only a few have had the time to grow and change. Mayday is the most changed, her first costume was the creation of a fashion conscious teen, all shiny and pretty based off of a swimsuit designed for a more sophisticated adult. The swimsuit remains, but as a skin layer underneath billowy robes and a cloak more suitable to a mage, and less likely to induce frostbite.... ShadowCross however uses her costume as a psychological crutch, and gains bonuses by just being in it. She cant really function as a hero outside it the mental dependance is so strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeAsianKid Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Hmm...both my characters are shapechangers (I'm addicted to them). They wear faces like other people wear clothes. Costumes have no effect on them. I mean, technically their clothing is just an extension of their skin, so they're really naked all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farkling Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Hmm. FlameJet (Public ID) pretty much wears Mr. Playboy clothes. He hasn't worn the actual "FlameJet" costume since the toy line failed. No, wait, he still wears it for "hero-ing" public appearances. He comes off younger, brash, impulsive and flashy in his costume (this is an observation by fellow players). When he uses powers in his civvies he's much more a normal person, though short tempered. Actually, by nature of all the corporate demands, I think he's just easily irritated. Lightning on the other hand typically wears street clothes, and until recently he hadn't donned an actual costume since 1990 (except for Halloween), his ID is private because he was never a flashy easily seen hero. His association with a bona-fide superteam caused him to get out his old costume and add a jacket (or trenchcoat) to it for public appearances. He usually dons it when the press shows. Ironically, he plays at being a REAL superhero whenever he is visiting his home in Australia. He dresses up as a pirate from folklore and patrols Sydney under the name of "Cavalier", pretending to be a teleporter with an rapier (epee?) containing a stungun. That Deep Cover persona is SO not Lightning, and has a much greater tendency towards "casual" treatment of villains. "Say mate, why don't we go grab a brew before we finish this disagreement. I'll buy since all you have is the stolen money." (Cavalier was created on a whim sometime in his past, and he keeps up the fiction because Cavalier is a legitimate hero from a foreign (to the US) country who can visit the various agencies that are Watching or Hunting Lightning due to past crimes and misdemeanors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckB Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 In games that I've run , superhero costumes serve the hero community in 3 aspects: Necessity: Don't need Viper , et al knowing where you live or who (whom ?) your friends and family are. Ego: Some people just want the attention Consistancy: Superheroes are pretty much a staple of the game world and the public has gotten used to the costumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengal Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Costumes are uniforms to my haroes, for the most part. The characters I identify with well enough to play build utility into their longjohns, whether it be sutility belts, camouflage, weapons suites, or what-have-you. On the other hand, I dislike the "street clothes are my costume" genre deconstruction, so maybe I'm a hypocrite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loraxxx Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 for me the idea of being an icon goes hand-in-hand with being a "super-hero...." a super without a flashy costume and a "hero id" is simply a "paranormal" IMHO.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Solo Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 I have a character who has had his use of costume reflect his mentality, rather than the more usual other way around. White Dwarf started his career wearing the typical longunderwear with chin revealing half mask. But as his career progressed, and he continually failed to live up to the stereotypical role of SUPERHERO, he quit bothering with the costume. He didn't really feal like playing the game any more. Now, he is just Todd Berrymore, over the road truck driver. To someone who pays attention to Superhype magazine and the like, his distinctive scarred face and otherworldly eyes will give him away as the world's strongest man. He can't sit by and let bad things happen if he can help it, but he definatly has lost any sense of empowerment he may have gotten from putting on his costume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 My namesake doesnt wear a costume unless blue jeans and a T-shirt count. It really doesnt matter much as he doesnt get out in public except (except to whip some villain @$$). And he doesnt have to worry about family because they were already killed when he was young. Note: A main villain did the killing by the way. He joined in the first place as an enemy of my enemy is my friend sort of way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Some have been ho-hum about costumes, but 2 have had a lot of mileage out of their costumes: The Urban Druid (my old favorite, first PC) had found material that cloaked him in a protective density but also afforded camouflage as it blends into whatever is around it. He warps this around him as a cowl and cape, and it covers him mostly up - underneath it's just regular clothing. So he was quite attentive to it. Blazing Arrow From the Western Sea who Talks to the Old Mule looks like a cliche Indian because that's exactly what he is, a half-white/half-Indian but suburban-raised misfit whose conception of Indians is terribly flawed and mostly stereotyped, even if positive. For him his costume is a PC statement (even though it's just...not) and even when he goes undercover, he has a disad of always wearing a feather or some "Indian" pieceon him not-too-subtly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allandrel Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Originally posted by ZootSoot This is the "truth" behind The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson did not imagine Hyde having superhuman powers, and careful reading should reveal that Jekyll and Hyde had only one mind. It is the ring of Gyges, Jekyll, without the pressure of Victorian society, became a monster because he believed he would never be connected with his crimes. It's nice to see that someone else got that interpretation. You're only about the tenth person I know of to have realized it. I had to have it pointed out to me, and when I re-read the book I saw just how accurate it was. Patrick J McGraw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeropoint Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Special Agent Trent, AKA "Agent Orange" (my most recent PC) wears a standard government-issue black suit and sunglasses, more as a uniform than a costume, because as far as he's concerned, he's not a superhero. But, the outfit does project some attitude: "I am all business. I do not have a sense of humor." In that outfit, he's not flashy or colorful, he's just out to get the job done, the innocents protected, and the villain apprehended as efficiently as possible. Also, it acts as a barrier between him and other people--"I am a faceless government agent." Since the incident which inflicted his powers on him, he has been unsure of his own mind, and is uncomfortable interacting on a personal level. I suppose its also a psychological crutch: "I am calm and in control", which he desperately needs, since the changes to his brain have left him a little unstable, and he's afraid of hurting someone again. Hmm. I guess even a non-costume can have some significant meaning. In real life, the only difference my Navy uniform makes for me is that I salute officers when I'm wearing it. It's just clothes. Zeropoint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristopher Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 I don't think I've ever had a costume define a character for me. The characters always come first, and then the costume has to fit them. Their costumes are usually more functional and less "genre" than most costumes. As I type this, Howler is on the sidebar art. Now there's someone who needs some costume advice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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