Late Golden/Early Silver Age Champions

assault · December 24, 2005

I've been working on my campaign timeline, and inevitably have been sidetracked by shiny ideas...

Specifically, I started thinking about what a Champions campaign set in the 1950s would entail.

Well, for starters, the period covered parts of both the Golden and Silver Ages, as well as the "superhero gap". It also covered the heydays of the British and Australian industries, which thrived while their US competition was relatively weak.

Even in the US, superheroes never stopped being published, but there was an extended period in which they were relatively rare, and not actual teams were being published. The closest thing to teams were groups of associated heroes like Batman, Robin and Bat-Woman, or the Marvelman Family, or else ad hoc teamups like Batman and Superman. In effect, this was a period largely consisting of "major character and supporting cast" teams, rather than gatherings of equals. The first "real" team to reappear may have been the Legion of Superheroes, who exhibited the same "supporting cast" behaviour with respect to Superboy, even if they were notionally equals.

All of this suggests that PC groups in a 50s game should be rather small, and, perhaps, that the PCs should have linked origins, or be tied together by a central character at least initially.

What else, then?

Well, timelines probably aren't that important. Continuity doesn't seem to have been a major factor in contemporary stories. Rather, characters often seem to have been living in fairytale time.

While some players may not be terribly impressed by this, it does have some benefits. In particular, it smooths the rougher edges of the actual historical setting. Dealing with the real world politics of the period isn't much fun. It's better to play in a setting where Communists are Eeevil and racism never happens.

So time and continuity aren't that important. What about places?

Well, obviously you would need a map of Campaign City. It may or may not be based on a real city. In fact, there's probably a slightly greater chance that it wouldn't be a real one than would be the case in a game set later. You might also want to scatter a few Mysterious Places around the world if you are going to play a fairly high level game. (That's less of an issue, but still relevant, if you are playing a Batman type game though.)

Your map of Campaign City probably doesn't have to be that fancy though, since you can make a lot of it up as you go along. And if you contradict yourself in the process, who cares?

OK, so we have a sketch map of our Metropolis/Gotham/whatever city.

Let's see, opponents? Compared to the early Golden Age, supervillains are probably fairly common. A lot will be theme villains and mad scientists, though, even for the higher end characters. Gangsters always work of course, as do leftover Nazis, and, of course, Communists! If you have a strong enough stomach, the old Japanese stereotypes can be recycled as Chinese stereotypes as well, but... :thumbdown

Most importantly, however, there are two categories of opponents that take on new importance. They are, of course, Monsters and Aliens. (And, of course, Alien Monsters!)

Monsters are pretty straightforward. They rampage. They usually can't be stopped just by hitting them, so you have to find out what their story is and sort them out based on that. And some may actually be Good Guys.

Aliens: well, you know the drill.

Resources for research:

* There's plenty of Golden and Silver Age reprints floating around these days.

* The 3rd and 4th Edition versions of Golden Age Champions focussed on WWII, but both contain stuff that is useful for a post-war game.

* GURPS Atomic Horror is a rarity - a roleplaying supplement set in the 50s. As such it is useful.

* Google. No really. Find things and read them.

And, of course, old films, TV shows, books and music.

Don't be afraid of getting it wrong. Even if your game takes place in a setting that's a cross between the 60's Batman show and Happy Days, if it's fun, it's good.

Finally, oh yes, there were plenty of Super-apes and 5th Dimensional Imps in the 50s, too!

Susano · December 25, 2005