Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

[winterhawk]

I've been contemplating revamping the Champions in my campaign. While they serve as good exemplars for beginning players, they don't feel very 'comic booky' as the CU's premier superhero team.

 

Fondly recalling the huge Silver Age rosters of the Avengers and JLA during the 70s, I realized there were a lot of commonalities between the two teams. Both had:

 

An ultrapowerful Flying Brick with some energy powers from an alien planet/dimension (Superman/Thor)

 

A warrior woman Brick (Wonder Woman/Ms. Marvel, the latter perhaps an homage to the former)

 

A size alteration Metamorph (Wasp/Hank Pym/The Atom)

 

A Speedster (The Flash/Quicksilver)

 

A wisecracking, rebellous bowman (Green Arrow/Hawkeye)

 

A sexy sorceress (Zatanna/Scarlet Witch)

 

An outsider with unusual powers (Vision/Martian Manhunter/Red Tornado)

 

A good natured hero with unusual powers (Elongated Man/The Beast)

 

A female Martial Artist with a schtick (Black Canary/Black Widow)

 

I realize I'm leaving a couple of biggies off the list, notably Captain America & The Batman, but I ask the learned panel am I missing any common character type or archetype. Thanks in advance for your input.

[GrayPumpkin]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

A guy with flying as his main shtick (Hawkman and Falcon)

[ShinDangaioh]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

A guy who can swim: Aquaman/Sub-Mariner. I don't know if Namor was ever a member of the Avengers though.

 

Space Cop-Green Lantern. Quasar maybe?

[McCoy]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

A guy who can swim: Aquaman/Sub-Mariner. I don't know if Namor was ever a member of the Avengers though.

 

Space Cop-Green Lantern. Quasar maybe?

Yes, Namor has been an Avenger.

 

I would think Mar Vell would be more of Green Lantern's opposite number than Quasar.

[Hawksmoor]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

Yes, Namor has been an Avenger.

 

I would think Mar Vell would be more of Green Lantern's opposite number than Quasar.

 

No, as the character evolved he definitely became a Marvel version of Hal Jordan.

 

The Protector of the Universe and all that. Jeez! I loved that comic.

 

Hawksmoor

[JmOz]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

No, as the character evolved he definitely became a Marvel version of Hal Jordan.

 

The Protector of the Universe and all that. Jeez! I loved that comic.

 

Hawksmoor

 

But only after he teamed up with Captain Mar-Vel's Cosmic buddy

[Sketchpad]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

Don't forget:

Speedster (Flash/Quickslliver)

Mystic Powerhouse (Captain Marvel/Hercules)

Yuckster Genius (Spiderman/Blue Beetle)

Armored Genius (Iron Man/Steel)

Bestial Female (Crimson Fox/Tigra/Hellcat)

Superstar (Wonder Man/Booster Gold)

Otherworldly God/Goddess (Big Barda/Orion/Starfox/Sersi)

Energy Manipulator (Captain Atom/Photon)

Rebel (Guy Gardner/War Machine/US Agent)

New Kid (Kyle Rayner/Justice)

[Snake Gandhi]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

Strangely. I look at that list, and it matches pretty well with the new game I'm starting. we have seven characters, and they all fit one of those slots:)

[braincraft]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

I think that Mortal Badass (Captain America, Batman) is a pretty important archetype.

[winterhawk]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

Well, its taken 5+ years, and a new Edition of Champs for me to get around to this, but I'm finally doing it. Messing around with http://fabricadeherois.blogspot.com/, and influenced by this ancient thread, I started coming up with my version of a classic Silver Age JLA/Avengers line up for the premier team in my new universe. L to R, Back Row: The Albatross (requisite Winged Guy ala Hawkman/Falcon), The Baroness (Warrior Woman/Alien Outsider ala Wonder Woman/Ms. Marvel/Martian Manhunter), Pipeline (he's covering a lot...Nice Guy with Odd Powers like Elgongated Man/The Beast, Superstar like Booster Gold/Wonder Man, New Guy like well, all the new guys over the years and Water Guy ala Aquaman/Namor), Thunderman (Superman/Thor natch), Doc Cicada (Shrinker/Armored Scientist per The Atom/Hank Pym/Iron Man). L to R, Middle: Dr. Quantum (Cosmic Master of Energy like Green Lantern/Captain Mar-Vell), the hither-to-be-named Sexy Sorceress (Scarlet Witch/Zatanna). L to R, Foreground: The Unknown Soldier (Batman/Captain America Ultimate Mortal Badass), White Rabbit (Female MA with a schtick ala Black Canary/Black Widow), The Fox (Wisecracking Bowman like Green Arrow/Hawkeye).

 

[ATTACH]36982[/ATTACH]

 

I'm thinking of using Kinetic as the Speedster, because as Speedsters go, he's not bad. And I'm still contemplating my Vision/Red Tornado analogue. As I start coming up with stats, I'll post 'em. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

Looking forward to it!

[kahuna's bro]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

I've been contemplating revamping the Champions in my campaign. While they serve as good exemplars for beginning players, they don't feel very 'comic booky' as the CU's premier superhero team.

 

Fondly recalling the huge Silver Age rosters of the Avengers and JLA during the 70s, I realized there were a lot of commonalities between the two teams. Both had:

 

An ultrapowerful Flying Brick with some energy powers from an alien planet/dimension (Superman/Thor)

 

A warrior woman Brick (Wonder Woman/Ms. Marvel, the latter perhaps an homage to the former)

 

A size alteration Metamorph (Wasp/Hank Pym/The Atom)

 

A Speedster (The Flash/Quicksilver)

 

A wisecracking, rebellous bowman (Green Arrow/Hawkeye)

 

A sexy sorceress (Zatanna/Scarlet Witch)

 

An outsider with unusual powers (Vision/Martian Manhunter/Red Tornado)

 

A good natured hero with unusual powers (Elongated Man/The Beast)

 

A female Martial Artist with a schtick (Black Canary/Black Widow)

 

I realize I'm leaving a couple of biggies off the list, notably Captain America & The Batman, but I ask the learned panel am I missing any common character type or archetype. Thanks in advance for your input.

thje champions were pattered more on marvel super-heroes than dc

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

Yeah, the code/txt exports are the best board viewable exports.

If you're on the latest version of Hero Designer the native PDF export can be attached to posts.

[winterhawk]

2nd Try...Introducing Thunderman

 

Okay going to try and roll this again. Trying to think of a good Silver Age styled appellation for this guy, so Rep to anyone who can help me out.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]37035[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]37036[/ATTACH]

 

Origin: The child that would become Thunderman was discovered by a farmer and his wife in a crater left by a massive lightning strike in the middle of thier fields. The Clarks named the boy Donald and raised the boy as their own, instilling their old fashioned values into the lad. On his 18th birthday, he was confronted by an one eyed old man. The old man revealed himself to be Odin, King of the Norse Gods and explained that Don was the son of Thor, hidden away on Midgard to save him from the enemies of his father. Odin used his mighty magic to activate the Blood of the Aesir that ran through his veins, giving Donald a fraction of the power of his mighty sire. Naming himself Thunderman, he became one of the greatest heroes of the Age. When the Unknown Soldier formed the Champions, Thunderman was one of the first to join, and became the team's powerhouse.

 

Personality/Motivation: Raised with a strong sense of right and wrong, Thunderman is a hero because the world needs heroes. He esposes the best qualities in Humanity, which sometimes leads people to believe he's a Boy Scout. In actuality, he was also raised with a lot of Common Sense, and can be very pragmatic.

 

He's studied everything he can about his heritage, and holds a Ph. D. in Mythological studies. In his Secret Identity, he is a professor at MCU.

 

Quote: "Good doesn't mean weak, as you're about to find out."

 

Powers/Tactics: Thunderman is superstrong, nigh invulnerable, can fly at tremendous speeds, and can fire mystic lightning from his eyes, which his calls his 'Thundervision'. He is also a crafty, using his superstrength creatively for different effects (Brick Tricks VPP). Like his father Thor, he is succeptable to mystical deception and illusions.

 

Campaign Use: My tribute/analog to Superman/Thor with a little Captain Marvel thrown in. His arch enemy is his uncle, Loki, the God of Chaos. Loki's earthly guise is that of Luke Woodson, multi-millionaire investor.

 

Appearance: Donald Clark is big, broad shouldered and good looking in an All-American sort of way. As Thunderman, his costume is blue and black with a red cape and golden highlights.

[winterhawk]

The American Manhunter...The Unknown Soldier!

 

I'm planning on going all out points-wise on the 'Big 7'.

 

Origin: John Harmon was the younger brother of James Harmon IV, the scion of the Harmon family, a long line of wealthy adventurers. While James was expected to continue the legacy of the Harmon family, not much was expected of his younger brother. Eschewing a jetset lifestyle, John joined the military over his parents protests. Being a Harmon, his inherent gifts blossomed in the service and he was recruited from the Green Berets to Delta Force and finally to the CIA. He travelled the globe amassing skills and becoming one of the Agency's top operatives. His brother James, as expected, used his brilliance to invent a suit of powered armor and become the hero Defender. It seemed that the brothers were destined to travel on very different paths...until the Battle of Detroit.

 

John was recalled from the field and sent into Detroit to offer aid to the military. He ended up supporting an army unit along with his brother just as his Dr. Destroyer struck. Despite all of his skill, he was only human. He watched as his brother was vaporized by the Doctor. The same fate would have befell John if not for a brave soldier who leapt in front of Destroyer's blast. Even though his life was spared, John was still scarred beyond recognition. Identified only as one of the countless John Does in the aftermath of the battle, John Harmon was declared dead. After recovering from his injuries, John revealed himself to his trusted family servant, and with his help, used hte Harmon fortune and his espionage contacts to undergo processes to make himself better than human and amass an arsenal of the most cutting edge technology. He rigorously trained himself in the use of them, and fashioned a mask from the tatters of an American flag recovered from the scene of the Battle. And finally he took on a name in memory of the brave Army man who saved his life, a man who's name he never learned...

 

John Harmon could not save his brother, or the soldier, or the city of Detroit...but the Unknown Soldier would stand ever vigilant against the forces of evil.

 

Personality/Motivation: The Soldier is obsessed with with ensuring that tragedies like the Battle of Detroit never befall anyone ever again. Having no true Secret ID to maintain, he spends every waking moment either planning, training or fighting crime. Realizing to some degree that he is only one man, he formed the Champions to further his crusade.

 

Powers/Tactics: The Soldier is a deadly hand to hand combatant and wields an arsenal of gadgets in his Utility Harness. He plans for every contingency and even his back up plans have back up plans. Perhaps his greatest asset is the sheer force of his personality (PRE) which can inspire either hope in the most dire of situations to his allies, or strike bone rattling fear in his enemies.

 

Campaign Use: My take on the Captain America/Batman Mortal-Who-Can-Hang-With-The-Big-Boys. The Soldier has amassed a Rogues Gallery of Arch Enemies including Rictus, a skull faced madman obssessed with creating chaos; Rasputin, the immortal psychic Russian monk turned crimeloard and the Spider Syndicate, a group of archnid themed villains led by the beautiful but deadly Red Widow.

 

Appearance: John Harmon has been horribly scarred as a result of the Battle of Detroit, although he can conceal the scars with extensive prosthetics when neccesary. The Unknown Soldier's costume is red, white, blue and black. His full face mask is made from an American flag.

 

Rep to Recluse for the Spider Syndicate.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]37039[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]37038[/ATTACH]

[Cardinal]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

I love the character sheets... very old school. Is that an export template for hero designer?

 

Also, I like the team you are throwing together. Great vibe. If you want additional inspiration, check out Freedom City for MnM. They have a nice silver age vibe and do a good job of hitting the basics. One nice dynamic is mixing powersets and personalities between heroes to make new familiar but different versions (e.g. Captain Thunder = Captain Marvel Power Set + Hal Jordan History and Personality).

 

IIRC, you have a character named Slyfox that is a teleporting bowman... child of your archer and MA vixen perhaps?

[winterhawk]

Re: Classic Silver Aged Style Team Rosters

 

I love the character sheets... very old school. Is that an export template for hero designer?

 

Yes, the latest version can 'write' to the .pdf format I'm using. Found it makes for easy visibility.

 

Also, I like the team you are throwing together. Great vibe. If you want additional inspiration, check out Freedom City for MnM. They have a nice silver age vibe and do a good job of hitting the basics. One nice dynamic is mixing powersets and personalities between heroes to make new familiar but different versions (e.g. Captain Thunder = Captain Marvel Power Set + Hal Jordan History and Personality).

 

Thanks for the compliment. I own all the Freedom City stuff and am actually a big fan of the setting. To say it had an influence on what I'm doing would not be wrong.

 

IIRC, you have a character named Slyfox that is a teleporting bowman... child of your archer and MA vixen perhaps?

 

Jeeze, good memory. Yes, actually this is my first attempt at fleshing out Slyfox's parents.