Golden Age Campaign

[Twilight]

Ok, awhile ago I tried to start a Golden Age Champions Campaign but it really didn't turn out so well. Undaunted, I am once again making preliminary plans to once again begin my Golden Age Campaign. Of course what I need from you fine people is ideas and most importantly VILLAINS for such a campaign.

 

I have a few in mind of course but I can use all the help I can possibly get so let's hear those ideas people! C"mon, I know you have `em!

[Richard Logue]

In a campaign that a friend of mine ran briefly in 1995 (long before City of Heroes), I had an American Golden Age super named Vanguard. Vanguard's foremost nemesis was the evil Ratzi saboteur named 5th Column. Essentially, 5th was an agent-level sort with many connections and resources.

 

The campaign itself was not set in the Golden Age, but Vanguard had been shot to the future (the present, 1995) by a time-traveling device (alien tech) that 5th Column thought was a disintegrating "ray gun." Yes, somewhat Captain America-ish, but its the sort of character I wanted to run.

 

As a side note, it turned out 5th Column was still alive, albeit 50+ years older, and had firmly entrenched himself into American high society and politics and business. But, once he discovered he had not killed Vanguard but merely transported him to the future, he grew incensed and began many scenarios of revenge. After all, it was hardly fair that his enemy was still young and he had become an old man.

[MisterVimes]

Re: Golden Age Campaign

 

Originally posted by Twilight

Ok, awhile ago I tried to start a Golden Age Champions Campaign but it really didn't turn out so well. Undaunted, I am once again making preliminary plans to once again begin my Golden Age Campaign. Of course what I need from you fine people is ideas and most importantly VILLAINS for such a campaign.

 

I have a few in mind of course but I can use all the help I can possibly get so let's hear those ideas people! C"mon, I know you have `em!

 

You need three kinds of villains.

 

1) Axis villains. Nazis and Japanese in particular. Stereotype them a bit. Bald guys with monocles are BAD germans. Handsome Blonde germans are honorable 'knights' and aren't nazis. Japanese characters are seldom seen as redeemable. Female Japanese villains are the typical Dragon Ladies. Vichy (Fascist) French traitors are a nice touch as well. Italians will probably be your least used.

 

2) Villains that are all american. They're crooks, but they hate the Nazis. Rocketeer and "All through the Night" with Humphrey Bogart are good examples of this. Mobsters with names like: Pinstripe, Flat-top, Pokerface... Dick Tracy style villains are best.

 

3) Bill Finger (co-creator of Batman, no matter what Bob Kane says) type villains. THEME villains, Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Clock King, etc...

 

Alterating these types of villains helps to keep the game fresh.

 

Use history to your advantage. Have them save Einstein. He'll be famous, but the President won't listen to him about Atomic weapons for years. Have them fight home grown fascists like the KKK, America First, Christian Front, American Destiny Party, etc.

 

Emphasize the inequality in America at the time between blacks and whites. Draw attention to the fact that american born japanese were in interment camps. All of these things will allow your heroes to be heroic without falling into a black and white trap of "America vs the Japanazi menace" game after game.

[Richard Logue]

V4.

 

If you're familiar with Hitler's "vengeance weapons" you might like V4. During the war, Hitler had several uber-weapon projects going on. The V1 was also known as the doodlebug and was basically a very crude cruise missile that was fired over and over into England.

 

The V2 was probably the most famous of the vengeance weapons. It was a longer-ranged, more powerful rocket. In theory, they could be launched at New York from Europe.

 

The V3 were long-range guns that fired rocket-propelled rounds in barrages. Some of the guns were buried underground while others were fixed to mobile train cars.

 

You could go a few different ways with a Golden Age Nazi villain named V4. He could be a guy in a crude suit of power armor. He could be a soldier who wears a prototype rocket pack akin to the Rocketeer. Or he could simply be the result of a late-war super-soldier program.

 

Personally, I kinda like the rocket pack commando version. Perhaps he was out testing one of the prototype models when the munition proving grounds facility was bombed out of existence by a flight of B-17's. Now he has the only one left and they cannot be recreated. Himmler commissions him as the V4.

 

Rich

[Twilight]

Richard, MisterVimes those are GREAT ideas! *frantically scribbles notes*

 

Seriously, you've both been a great help. I especially like the V4 idea since I'm planning on having at least one rocket pack hero in the campaign.

 

You both were a great help and please, keep those ideas coming. There's no such thing as too few ideas, let's hear em people!

 

[SuperPheemy]

Develop a "weird science/occult" angle to the game. Golden Age superagents chasing Nazi SS Occult artifact hunters throughout the little explored places of the world. Broken Occult artifacts make for good simultaneous Hero/Villian creation prequils, the Nazi Occultist and the American Archaeologist grab the all-powerful artifact at the same time and *BLAMMO* superbeings with similar powers and opposite ideologies are born.

 

Bring in Alien species with super-advanced technologies who are merely "observing". The Nazi's want to bring them into the Axis, the allies want to prevent that at all costs.

 

Though the Soviets are allies during the Golden Age, they're classically portrayed as being untrustworthy, and operating with their own agenda.

 

And everything doesn't have to revolve around fighting Nazis and the Japanese Empire. Patriotic superheroes could be sent on missions to find Amelia Earhart, or other mysteriously disappeared folks.

[Doug McCrae]

The paucity of supervillains was a distinctive feature of the Golden Age so you might want to consider that in the interests of establishing more of a period feel. Many (most?) superheroes of the time lacked powers so it seems appropriate that the bad guys should too. Opposition could come in the following forms:

 

Mad scientists. They would often have only one invention. Once that was dealt with they'd be seen no more. Some did return though - the Ultra-Humanite (just a bald bloke, despite his wonderful name), Luthor (started out with hair, I believe), Dr. Sivana, Dr. Psycho (a Wonder Woman opponent).

 

Crime bosses would usually have some sort of interesting schtick and could also have a supervillainy sounding name like the Octopus (I think he fought the Spirit).

 

Aliens, whether from space or (rarer) another dimension. Rampaging robots. Monsters. Wizards. (The line betwen science and magic could be pretty hazy back then.) Evil swamis with the power of hypnosis - a common ability. Vampires, ghosts and other supernatural beasts. (Batman fights a real vampire, called the Monk, in Detective Comics #31-32.) Ordinary criminals. Fifth columnists. The nazis of course. Homegrown fascists, possibly - DC's Uncle Sam first appeared in 1940 to help a boy whose father had been killed by the "Purple Shirts".

 

Atlanteans/Lemurians/Muvians could pose a threat. After all Namor started out as a kind of halfway supervillain who duked it out with the Human Torch. Who knows how a fishman might act in a strange environment? Personally I think they're after our women, perhaps as a kind of twisted revenge for all those sailor/mermaid couplings.

 

There were swarms of Dark Champions style vigilante superheroes. In the comic books I don't think hero ever fought hero over justice vs. due process but they could in your campaign universe.

 

A few superheroes of the time got their powers from being raised by animals including tigers and condors (yes, he learned how to fly!). What if an abandoned orphan was raised by evil animals such as pythons or vultures? It could lead to a villain with some pretty repulsive table manners.

 

The playing of pranks and jokes was common for GA supervillains: Prankster, Toyman, Mr. Mxyztplk, The Joker - though his were sick and evil. There were catwomen - Catwoman and Cheetah. Some bad guys were associated with stage and screen - The Dummy and Clayface. Perhaps other vaudevillians could turn to crime - acrobats (good second storey men), expert knife throwers, animal trainers.

 

It seems to me that a lot of GA bad guys were really quite scary and horrifying - The Joker, Two-Face, Clayface (so many faces), The Dummy, Red Skull. An equal number were comedic and non-threatening - Prankster, Toyman, Mr. Mxyxtplk, many of the Marvel family rogues gallery, though I still think Black Adam was very sinister. He may have been the inspiration for Kid Miracleman's appearance in Alan Moore's Miracleman run. So I reckon a GA foe was either eevil or funny with few in the middle ground.

[Doug McCrae]

Re: Re: Golden Age Campaign

 

Originally posted by MisterVimes

THEME villains, Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Clock King, etc...

Clock King first appeared in 1960, according to Overstreet.

[Richard Logue]

Mordred might be a good name for a traitorous English occultist/sorceror.

 

-------

 

One of the German heroes I created for "historical" purposes in my world was based on the real-life boxer Max Schmeling who boxed in the 30's and 40's. Although he was considered a national boxer and hailed by Hitler as a prime example of Aryan blood, he secretly hated the Nazi regime and even aided Jews on occasion in escaping the country.

 

In my version, the boxer, who I named something else, goes a step further and dons the mask and tights to become a superhero. Sure, he has no more than a greatly athletic physique and a desire to do what's right, but isn't that common in the Golden Age? Keep in mind he (Schmeling) also served in the German army as a paratrooper.

 

Until the heroes in your campaign figure out he's one of the good guys, they may jump to conclusions about the darkly clad German speaking individual. Then of course there comes the time that he approaches the heroes to help him rescue friends of some sort.

 

Lots of possibilities there.

 

Rich

[MisterVimes]

Re: Re: Re: Golden Age Campaign

 

Originally posted by Doug McCrae

Clock King first appeared in 1960, according to Overstreet.

 

Then maybe it was The Clock... I get them confused.

[Twilight]

You guys are SO cool! *does the we're not worthy bow*

 

These are some great suggestions and I'm most certainly going to use as many of them as I can. Keep em coming please!

 

Just so ya know, I've already cooked up the main badguy, Professor Peril, from these suggestions and various ideas percolating in my own brain. What do you think of the name?

 

Also, if you know any obscure pulp/Golden Age villians feel free to suggest them, I'm not above borrowing them for my campaign. Heck, I'll even borrow some not so obscure ones if neccesary.

[steriaca]

Humm...some theam villian ideals.

 

Boss Kong: A mobster who's brain was removed and implanted into a body of a gorilla (as it was said before, science and magic were not as clear cut as it is today).

 

Mister Macob: A hodded figure which rules the underworld, and is obsesed with death. Tends to have his hideouts in cemitarys and funeral parlors. Uses death-traps based on cremation and burring alive. Sometimes uses weapions based on the 'death' theam.

 

Father Time: A ordinary crook who discovered a magical hourglass which alowes him to do limited time control things. Dones an robe and old man makeup, and robs banks as Father Time ("The Many Crimes Of Father Crime!").

 

Lucifer Morningstar: A red haired 'sientist' with an evil bent (so evil that he had his title profesor stiped from him). Most of the time, he seeks revenge for his lost title.

 

Profesor DePower: A short, bald scientist who is obsesed with superpowers. Likes to 'steal' them using vareous inventions of his.

[Agent Escafarc]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Golden Age Campaign

 

Originally posted by MisterVimes

Then maybe it was The Clock... I get them confused.

 

I believe The Clock pre-dated Bat-man in earlier issues of Detective and was a good-guy to boot.

[MisterVimes]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Golden Age Campaign

 

Originally posted by Agent Escafarc

I believe The Clock pre-dated Bat-man in earlier issues of Detective and was a good-guy to boot.

 

Then it is ENTIRELY possible that I have NO idea what I am talking about:D

[starblaze]

I am now presently running a Golden Age Champions game with a more military feel to it. The PC's are a team of super powered commandos who go on missions no regular soldier can handle. I have just finished a rather long adventure in which Dr. Qual was inventing teleportation devices in different parts of the world. These devices were weakening the fabric of space/time and creating world threatening events. They finally managed to finish the adventure in occupied Paris and then immediatedly found themselves transported to the U.S.S. Eldridge during the Philadelphia Experiment when it was being raided by an extra-dimensional race known as Xylars.

[Agent Escafarc]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Golden Age Campaign

 

Originally posted by MisterVimes

Then it is ENTIRELY possible that I have NO idea what I am talking about:D

 

Having been told that many times in my life, trust me you get over it:D

[Kevin Scrivner]

Golden Age villains

 

From The Spider series:

 

The Bat Man -- He pre-dates the Caped Crusader by six years and has a schtick somewhat like the Penguin only with a bat theme instead of a bird theme. He dresses in an eerie bat costume, can fly via a specially designed one-man bat glider equipped with a high-powered rifle, has raised and trained a horde of ravenous vampire bats, is served by fanatical South American warriors who worship him as their bat god, and seems bent on spreading random terror and mayhem since he never makes any demands. In his secret identity, he's a retired jockey with (apparently) vast wealth.

 

The Mechanical Master -- An inventor and criminal mastermind has equipped his thugs with 20-foot-tall robotic battlesuits powerful enough to shove aside tentament buildings (and this is at least 40 years before anime hit the United States!). The New York City police are helpless as the robots carry off bank vaults and wade beneath the Hudson River. It looks like a job for Superman, but he isn't around yet. Can your heroes help?

 

The Faceless One -- A sinister master-of-disuise makes his living by extortion and blackmail. He can appear as anyone and his trademark weapon is an aerosol acid that eats his victims' faces away. Think an amalgam of DC's the Joker and Marvel's the Chameleon.

 

From the serials:

 

Haruchi -- A dimunitive Japanese nobleman who is the head of the Black Dragon Society, a terrorist organization determined to cripple the United States' war production. Although proficient with a gun or samurai sword, his major weapon is a horde of deep cover saboteurs who have infiltrated American industry. His trademark is a sinister pet raven trained to steal small objects or attack opponents.

 

Dr. Satan -- An electromechanical genius, he dreams of conquering the world with an army of robotic soldiers. So far he's only built one: a seven-foot tin can on legs that is deadly despite its clumsiness.

 

To be continued next week...

[Twilight]

Ooooooooooo, you guys rock! You simply ROCK!

 

Yes yes, lots of ideas now, LOTS! Wait till my players get a load of this! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! *ahem*

 

Sorry, villianous moment I'm sure it happens to all GMs.

 

Yes, some plotlines are already forming, keep the info coming please.

 

Thanks to y'all.

[Agent Escafarc]

As a side note AC Comics reprinted lots of Golden Age Comics. You usally can find these pretty cheap at local comic stores in the discount bins.

[Kevin Scrivner]

More serial villains

 

The Lightning -- With his black helmet, cloak, and insulated bodysuit The Lightning is the Forties inspiration for Darth Vader's costume. He's invented electrically charged "thunderbolt" aerial torpedoes capable of electrocuting a city block as well as mounted and portable "lightning guns." After field testing his deadly toys overseas The Lightning is prepared to wreak a reign of terror on the United States. He has a giant flying wing that serves as a mobile base; secret air fields in the Far East, the Pacific Islands, and California; and a sinister hunchbacked assistant.

 

Don del Oro -- A living 300-year-old idol is inciting the natives to attack crucial gold shipments from a remote mine. He's bullet-proof but is the Lord of Gold really an Indian god or a clever manipulator? Either way, he's backed by Amerindian warriors and ruthless Hispanic thugs.

 

The Lame One -- This eerie club-footed mob boss has left a string of rivals dead with a strange emblem burned in their foreheads. In addition to wierd science weapons such as a sonic disruptor, he has a doctor friend whose brain surgeries can turn one of the PCs' allies or even on of the player-characters into an implacable foe.

[Twilight]

Re: More serial villains

 

Originally posted by Kevin Scrivner

The Lightning -- With his black helmet, cloak, and insulated bodysuit The Lightning is the Forties inspiration for Darth Vader's costume. He's invented electrically charged "thunderbolt" aerial torpedoes capable of electrocuting a city block as well as mounted and portable "lightning guns." After field testing his deadly toys overseas The Lightning is prepared to wreak a reign of terror on the United States. He has a giant flying wing that serves as a mobile base; secret air fields in the Far East, the Pacific Islands, and California; and a sinister hunchbacked assistant.

 

*frantically takes notes, thinking of possible point totals as he types* Why yes, I do belive I've found a candidate for the upper level villain echelon of my campaign here, I do I do indeed. Just have to find a way to fit him in.

 

Don del Oro -- A living 300-year-old idol is inciting the natives to attack crucial gold shipments from a remote mine. He's bullet-proof but is the Lord of Gold really an Indian god or a clever manipulator? Either way, he's backed by Amerindian warriors and ruthless Hispanic thugs.

 

The Lame One -- This eerie club-footed mob boss has left a string of rivals dead with a strange emblem burned in their foreheads. In addition to wierd science weapons such as a sonic disruptor, he has a doctor friend whose brain surgeries can turn one of the PCs' allies or even on of the player-characters into an implacable foe.

 

I like the sound of this fellow, he'll definetly have a place in my campaign. Can't have have too many eerie weird science mob bosses lurking around can we?

 

Keep up the good work people. My campaign is already forming nicely thanks to your assistance.

[Pol Rua]

Dude, seriously, the best resource for Golden Age of Champions is Serials.

I recommend Captain Marvel, Spy Smasher, The Purple Monster Strikes, and any of the Rocketman ones - King of the Rocketmen, Radar Men on the Moon, Zombies of the Stratosphere...

They're all blisteringly good!

See if you can find videotapes of the 40's Superman Cartoons by the Fleisher Brothers, too! The look is so spot-on!

 

As far as villains go, remember Lost Worlds.

If you're going to go searching for Amelia Earhart, you can bet your goggles that she's going to be held captive on a lost jungle island, anxiously trying to avoid becoming the latest addition to 'The Harem of the Tiger-King' or somesuch!

Or have submarines kidnapped by natives of an Underwater City. The heroes turn up, ready to bust heads, when they find that kindly underwater scientist, Dr.Merlo is being forced to use his terrifying 'Hard Water; ray to cripple submarines, lest his daughter, the Princess of Atlantis be forced to marry General Gnarr, the head of the rebellious Shark Men.

 

Similarly, warmongering Martians (a la John Carter of Mars) are great.

My own 1940's hero, Comet Dixon, spent most of the war stopping the Evil Martian Count Veltron and his assistant General Kranng from selling advanced Martian weaponry... first to gangsters and later, to the ratzis!

Gasp!

 

Another neat idea is to take existing characters and 'Golden Age'ify 'em.

For example, Ogre becomes The Hun, an Allied Propaganda Poster of the bestial enemy come to life.

Cheshire Cat becomes The Black Dragon, a ruthless Japanese Ninja Saboteur.

Black Paladin becomes The Teutonic Knight, animated by Hitler's Dark Occult Artefacts, possibly found by an English Fascist codenamed: The Dark Seraph.

Hey, if you really want, Sir Dennis may have an elite cabal of cultists called 'The Midnight Society' (Alien Enemies) including an elite circle of high priests (or 'Morbanes').

Pulsar becomes Blitzkrieg, Lightning-hurling Nazi Superman.

And Eurostar becomes 'The Hand of Fear', whose five fingers desire nothing less than to crush the entire world in their ruthless grasp!

 

By the way, I loved the use of Fantomas in Prof.Peril's origin. Thumbs up!

 

 

_____________________________________

Pol.

[Kevin Scrivner]

I like the sound of this fellow, he'll definetly have a place in my campaign. Can't have have too many eerie weird science mob bosses lurking around can we?

 

---

 

Part of what makes the Lame One so scary is that the PCs should never get a good look at him until the final confrontation. Instead, they'll hear his slow, heavy, uneven tread on the dark sidewalk behind them or in the dim hallway outside their apartment or stateroom door. Despite his apparent disability, he always manages to keep up with them or even to get ahead of them no matter how fast they run. In the uncertain lighting they'll glimpse a shadowed figure or silhouette of a stocky shambler with a circle of wild bushy hair surrounding a bald dome of Klingon-esque proportions. Whether he's really deformed or whether it's just a mask is up to you.

[Twilight]

Bump

[Twilight]

Bump again.

 

Come on people, I need more ideas!