"We're the other guys..."

[Hermit]

I was bebopping along the web the other day, and found this.

 

http://home.flash.net/~jeanneb/

 

It got me real nostalgic.

 

Now, however, I'm wondering if anyone has based a Champions campaign on the PCs being a group of Second Stringers. Be it the "Legion of Subsitute Heroes", "The Mystery Men", or the more serious New Warriors trying to get a little respect from the FF or Avengers I find a fondness for the 2nd Stringers. They can be played for comedy, or the more dramatic davids in a world full of giants.

 

However, I can also see the frustration of not being the star of the show...

So, has anyone played/GM in a "Second Stringer Squad"?

[lemming]

Re: "We're the other guys..."

 

Originally posted by Hermit

So, has anyone played/GM in a "Second Stringer Squad"?

The games that were in set in the Protector's Universe had several tiers of power level.

The first team was the Boston based team with Scales at STR 145 and other members of that power level.

 

The third tier was still powerful by some people's standards, but more in the 12-16d6 range.

[Redmenace]

There was a campaign log like this on the M&M forums under Storyhour.

 

http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=988

 

Interesting site but is the Vision really a 2nd stringer?

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Redmenace

 

Interesting site but is the Vision really a 2nd stringer?

 

There are a lot of them I'd disagree with as well, but I recognize opinions will vary on it. Also bear in mind that site 'closed' in 98', so it's not up to current comic runs.

[Redmenace]

Fair enough, I added a link to the M&M campaign log in my previous post, it is definetly played for comedic effect but sounds interesting.

[Hermit]

Thanks for the link

[Tim]

A quote from the link:

 

Kid Vorpal wrote:

I think semi-humorous themes like this are hugely underrated. I'd still love to see a CLOWN-style book for MnM. Smile

[Bengal]

I GMed a "Mystery-Men" one-shot, where the players created characters of a similar power level and character conception to those in Bob Burden's work. It was hilarious, and fun, and the players wanted more.

 

 

Then we graduated, and that was pretty much that. oh well! There's definitely some undiscovered country there.

 

 

On a more relevant note, most of the characters I create are intentionally weak, humorous, or somehow flawed vis-a-vis pure crimefighting ability. I still play them straight and use my head, and usually teammates can cover for my weaknesses. It also keeps me as a player from hogging the spotlight, since there are simply fewer opportunities for me to do so. Even so, a good concept that sdoesn't rely on brute force (or even much flexibility) can provide for a rich RP and combat experience.

[Enforcer84]

Ive used the second (and third) stringers as campaign fodder so many times its not funny any more!

 

My usual victims are the Fabulous Frog-Man, Captain Ultra, and Fabian Stankowicz.

 

I ran a team that consisted of those three, Giant Man Bill Foster, Demolition Man, Squirril Girl, Freespirit and The Osprey. Called the Reserve, they formed in the aftermath that was Onslaught.

 

They worked closely with the Great Lakes Avengers (Who never became the lightning rods)

They had to fight the big name villains that remained. It was fun. The campaign had two phases. The first Phase, the Reserve were basically the characters as closely as we could get them (our Bricks had Str 40, 50, and 45 respectively) Then the Reserve and the GLA were captured by the Leader. He attempted to use them as "raw materials" for his own purposes hoping that the insane amount of luck they seemed to have with the villains of the MU would carry over if they became near heavyweights:

 

Add 15 pts to the Bricks, Osprey, & Frog-Man were given near perfect characteristics and "Programmed" with Martial Arts.

 

They were rescued by the two heroes he had rejected (Stankowicz and Squirril girl) the two teams combined and with Fabian, Frog-Man's dad, and Osprey using their tech skills, Fabian and Big Bertha's capital, and technology "liberated" from the Leader, they created a buch of tech (com Links, vehicles, and powered armor for Fabian, betacloth battle suits for Frog-Man, and Osprey, some neato weapons (Mr. Immortal took got a weapon like Cap's energy shield), Flatman was finally able to become more of a Reed Richard's clone (it turns out that he was indeed a clone of Richards) and Bertha, Doorman, and Dinah Soar were transformed into more effective heroes and heroines.

(Bertha took a more comic book leading lady appearance as the player didn't like the Fat Lady aspect, Doorman became something of a teleporting ninja, and Dinah Soar was given the ability to speak.

 

It was fun.

They fought the Masters of Evil, U-Foes, Sinister Six and the Melevlolant Menagerie (early on), a group lead by the White Rabbit that included Slick, The Walrus, Goodie Two Shoes, and a mercenary team of powered armor losers whose names I cannot remember.

 

Then there was the Marvel Superheroes Game we played (TSR's Advanced game from the 80's) in which many of the same guys became the Avengers Experimental Franchise, with some characters I made. Some of my tryout characters are on my Hero A Day thread...