Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

[synergy]

Hi,

 

On behalf of the creators of Uberworld, I am pleased to announce to the Champions gaming community that Uberworld is nearly ready to start. The basics of this PBEM Champions world have been fleshed out. While further details are still either in the progress of being written, there is still sufficient room for players to have the space to create their Player Characters and for GMs to bring their own imaginations for campaigns.

 

Uberworld will kick off its first campaign, This Mutant Life, a teen champions styled campaign based in Melbourne, Australia. The GM, Ben, will be looking for six young, heroic, mutant Player Characters from around the globe (a la the X-men). The target date for the start of recruitment will be mid-February.

 

I will be GMing a short adventure within the Serendipity Showcase series. The Crossroads of Polynesia will be recruiting players shortly after This Mutant Life. The recruitment for this adventure will be slightly different than normal - looking for 1-2 experienced players to use NPCs as PCs for the duration of the adventure and 1-2 novice players to create new PCs that they can either retain or releast to the NPC pool after the adventure.

 

Two other GMs are formulating possible campaigns that may start at roughly the same time. The details will be posted both here and on the Uberworld forum.

 

For more information please visit the Uberworld Universe website http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/dawnstars/

Further questions may be posted to this thread and/or to the Uberworld forum http://uberworldforum@yahoogroups.com

Persons interested in GMing should discuss their interest at the Uberworld forum.

 

Thank you,

Neil

Organizational Consultant (an NPC writer, and occasional GM, too) to the Creators of Uberworld

[cross-posted to Champions and to Player Finder]

 

For the curious amongst you, here is an excerpt from the NPC database:

The Secret Origins of Slipstream of S.A.G.E.

 

 

In the halls of Villa Vento Leggero sounds had a way of carrying through the hallways bouncing off the 18th century cold, hard stone walls. Light bootsteps that would normally be absorbed by wood or concrete instead sent faint non-rhythmic tapping noises through the night.

 

Still it was difficult for Volante to discern if the bootsteps were getting nearer or farther. There was too much echoing. Nonetheless, she knew that it wasn't her grandfather Donato, her grandmother Isabella, or her mama Olivia. By her watch, she could tell that it was two fifteen in the morning. Her mind sluggishly became alert, a difficult task at this time of night only two hours after she went to sleep - two hours after she had extinquished her pine-scented oil lamp.

 

Voices - nearly crisp enough to be military - joined the echoing bootsteps. "Mein HUD diagramm zeigt, dab ihr raum hinunter die halle rechts ist... Erinnern sie sich, Vater wünscht sie lebendig - sie ist dochter des Tempesta."

 

Tempesta. That name sent a surge of adrenaline through Volante enough to bring her to full alertness. Tempesta. The name that was not spoken in this household. The name used by the father that she had never met. The name of the playboy supervillain who was only her father by biology. She knew the tale. Mama had told her a few times.

 

She fumbled around for a light switch that did not exist. This was a castle built before electricity was common. And none of the Conte diColico since then saw fit to have any installed. Even Grandfather preferred it to be 'rustic'. Volante jumped out of bed. She knew how to navigate the castle in the dark having done so many times to leave this boring place.

 

"Ja," echoed another voice. "Nehmen sie das mädchen. Die anderen können sterben."

 

It sounded German - harsh and stern - quite unlike the rolling, flowing sound of Italian. Volante slipped out of the door only to hear Grandfather's stern voice. "What dogs dare invade Villa Vento Leggero unannounced and uninvited?!"

 

A lantern stood on the floor of the hallway bathing her grandfather in the light of a kerosene flame. He stood en guard with his heirloom saber and rushed at three figures in crimson.

 

Zip-zip-zip. Flooshhhhhh!

 

Flame shot out of the hands of one, bathing the hallway with light and heat. Jagged metal flew from the hand of another invader. And grandfather twisted as metal hit his body and the fire scorched him. Falling, he managed to thrust the tip of his weapon into the gut of one of the invaders.

 

Volante let out a scream, or was about to. Instead her mouth was muffled and four hands were pushing her down the hall. Mama and Grandmother.

 

Halfway down the hall, the three women stopped. Mama fumbled with something.

 

The complete blackness of night in the castle was punctured cleanly by a pair of thin red lines that may not have even been visible except for the dust that was stirred up by the three women running through the halls. At the ends of the lines were red dots that danced upon the bodies of the three women.

 

"Nicht das mädchen... Passen sie ihr ziel, Zwei."

 

"Passen sie ihre selbst, Drei. Ich weib, was ich tue."

 

This time there was no sound, but Volante glimpsed a flash from a pair of eyes in the dark and broad beams of harsh red light swept across the hallway.

 

Volante was pushed through the wall - a wall that was not there - by the force of the light beam - a laser? - and pain seared her chest. She heard more than saw Mama's and Grandmother's bodies fall.

 

Curiously, the slight breeze that she had felt earlier suddenly stopped. She heard no other sounds now except for her own labored breathing. Standing was difficult but she did so. And she went back to the hall to help her family. But there was a wall.

 

Confused and light-headed, she heard the voices again - faint as if a kilometer away, "Wo das mädchen ist?"

 

"Ich weib nicht, Ein. Sie... verschwand."

 

"Sie wissen, dab sie wahrscheinlich energien wie ihr vater hat."

 

"Suchen sie den rest des schlosses."

 

Bootsteps echoed again, but Volante was certain that they were going away now. Were there secret passages in Villa Vento Leggero? She was getting tired and losing blood quickly since the charred skin on her chest had broken and began bleeding. If she couldn't save her family, Volante wanted to just lie down on anything but the cold hard floor. She staggered through a door and found a bed to lie on. She shivered with the cold even on this warm summer night and blacked out.

 

It amazed her that she awoke. It amazed her even further that, aside from the hunger, she felt quite normal. If it weren't for the strangely high tech-looking bed that she lay on which was quite out of place for this old castle, Volante might have thought that everything was a bad nightmare. The faint LED lights given off by the bed was strong enough for her to see about the room. There was a switch on the wall near the door where a light switch was usually found in modern houses, but the switch seemed a bit odd. Still, she pushed it. Faint clicking pulsed through the walls then the room and the hall outside lit up from numerous recessed oil lamps in the walls.

 

Curious, she walked through the hall. There was a place on the wall just outside the room where she knew that she came through - a secret door. But there was no apparent way to open it. The machine should be able to heal her family. How could she get to them?

 

Volante banged her fists on the wall, "Open damn wall. Open." A green light flashed twice. Upon further inspection, a label next to the light read 'biometric identity confirmation'. And the door opened.

 

She rushed out into the hallway, pulling Mama and Grandmother onto the bed of the Autodoc. Then she went to carry in Grandfather. All three were cold. And Volante's heart fell out when the panel of the Autodoc read 'patient deceased, resuscitation impossible'.

 

Volante's eyes watered and tears flowed freely. 'Love yourself, love your family and friends, and love the good in all people' said Grandmother. Volante loved her family greatly, but still spent most of her time jetsetting around the world with her playboy friends. 'Time was not something that one could take back' said Mama. She knew that she had powers, but avoided the training that her family wanted for her. 'Responsibility and privelege go hand in hand' said Grandfather. Why couldn't she have just lived her life? Why did her family have to die for that?

 

"A tutto c'è rimedio, fuorchè alla morte." She muttered. Then added, "Chi non fa, non falla."

 

 

 

Buenos Aires, Argentina - a month later

 

In the air above the mansion, Volante rode the gentle, but firm wind summoned by her. As it rose past her, she turned it downward toward the mansion, a breeze to fan the flames that engulfed the compound. To burn the house of the vermin down.

 

Smoke filled the air, crackling tinder added to the cacaphony of shouts. The Kinder fled - leaping or flying over the walls, or running through the gates. The factory that produced the fanatical ubers was dying a hot death. It felt both good and bad to Volante - Slipstream was her code name now. Revenge was fulfilled, but there was still the emptiness of the loss of her family.

 

She remembered what the man told her as he hung out of Ariamachina, "We will flush them out like rats out of a burning field. Dr. Texeira and the police will capture many of them, some will escape. I will be trying to help them, too, but my job is to find whoever is behind this.

 

"Just keep fanning the flames and don't worry about me being in the middle of it. They don't call me the Troubleshooter for nothing." He looked her in the eyes then turned his eyes downward to the compound looking for a good place to land. "And remember, vengeance won't be the end all. You're not that type. Peace doesn't come this way. You've got to get that by yourself."

 

At the time, perhaps ten minutes ago, she watched the man leap and fall, grabbing the branches of a tree before he perished by hitting the ground. He slid down the trunk then was lost amidst the shrubbery. And Volante didn't really understand what he meant. Not then, but now she did. Revenge felt something like eating just a small bit of gelato.

[synergy]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

If you are having problems with the links in the announcement, please send an e-mail to either Ben (uberworld@optusnet.com.au) or me (home_n@hotmail.com).

[tribe]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

The link to the UBERWORLD site is:

 

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/dawnstars/index.htm

 

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the background and characters if you can spare the time.

[assault]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the background and characters if you can spare the time.

 

I don't have anything special to say, but it looks interesting.

 

I may even submit a character for the This Mutant Life game. I've got a suitable character at the "back of an envelope" stage.

[tribe]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

And you're Australian. That counts for something.

 

[tribe]

The Worldbook

 

The people behind Uberworld have also developed (hmm, are in the process of completing) a Worldbook Resource which features the countries of the world, including population, languages and other statistics as well as a flag and (most importantly) plot hooks and background information on the various countries.

 

Neil (Synergy) has put in the most work on backgrounds, so go ahead and rep him if you find the Worldbook valuable.

 

And remember it's still being worked on so check back later for more ideas.

 

The website is:

 

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/uberworld/worldbook.htm

 

The Countries are separated into three sections because the file size is so big; and there is a timeline to view ... and a section for an encyclopedia but really we haven't touched that yet. Not even a page there, so don't worry if an error pops up.

 

And we'd love to hear ideas for the countries we haven't explored yet, so feel free to reply to this post and give us some ideas of what to do with the other countries. Maybe you have a cool idea for Bolivia.

 

That's the idea of Uberworld - to get a whole bunch of people working on a shared universe.

 

Jump aboard.

 

It's free.

 

It's fun.

 

And this is sounding like a recruitment drive. Say no more.

 

Ben

[The Arc]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

I too am a contributor for Uberworld. Not only have I written a bunch of the NPCs, I've done some of the artwork as well. I have high hopes for Uberworld. We tried to get a more worldly feel to Uberworld. There are teams (hero and villain) from all over the world. One of the areas I've contrituted was Cabala, Five Pillars, and Fatwa.

 

Noah...

[Guest Suleyman Rashid]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Looks like that snob who runs the Global Guardians has some competition.

[synergy]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Looks like that snob who runs the Global Guardians has some competition.

 

For my part, I GM 2 campaigns in Global Guardians and think that it's a fine campaign environment. I view Uberworld as another universe with a different setting. Perhaps it is competition in some sense, but we'd like it to be friendly competition (especially since essentially, I'd be competing with myself ).

 

Neil

[Agent X]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Looks like that snob who runs the Global Guardians has some competition.

Now, now: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Ask yourself, would Worldmaker really want to be called a snob? I bet you can figure out the answer.

[tribe]

Anyone want to start a Campaign?

 

There have been a lot of views for this Thread but is anyone out there interested in starting a campaign for the Uberworld?

 

Does any of it spark interest or curiosity enough to want to throw your hat into the ring?

 

At the moment we'll have games covering Australia, possibly Mexico and an international team. Hmm, and maybe another in the UK.

 

That leaves a lot of the world untouched by campaigns.

 

If you've got a campaign already in motion or are thinking of starting one, then maybe Uberworld could provide some background for it.

 

All campaigns will be controlled exclusively by the GM.

 

House Rules will be the option of the GMs, but there's potential to share ideas and NPCs.

 

So if anyone wants to discuss campaign ideas here it'd be good.

[synergy]

Re: The Worldbook

 

Neil (Synergy) has put in the most work on backgrounds, so go ahead and rep him if you find the Worldbook valuable.

 

Actually, go ahead and rep Tribe for this. He likes green dots. One is quite enough for me.

 

Neil

[tribe]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

I've never had more than one green dot before, but now I'm sounding like a rep whore.

 

I will go and get counselling - promise!

 

)

[Lethosos]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Hey, yeah... good idea. I'll go ahead and rep both of yas, for your good work regardless.

 

And yes, I'm still working on "that" writeup.

[Lethosos]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Not to double-post, but... how do you define Bestial in Uberworld? Do you use The Master List of Limitations definition, or your own? Bagda's writeup says he has this PsyLim, but this only comes into play when he's Enraged, and that's not frequent enough to even have that Lim...

[tribe]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Not to double-post' date=' but... how do you define Bestial in Uberworld? Do you use The Master List of Limitations definition, or your own? Bagda's writeup says he has this PsyLim, but this only comes into play when he's Enraged, and that's not frequent enough to even have that Lim...[/quote']

 

I've been using the Masters List so that definition works.

 

As for Bagha, he has the Bestial limitation all the time. The Enraged limitation just has a SFX tag of Releases the Beast when he is contacted telepathically. It makes him more bestial rather than bestial in itself.

[Lethosos]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Okay... I think I put together a rough idealization of the character I promised you (and thereby pulling this thread out from the depths!)

 

I don't have an image done yet, but here's the quick and dirty: He's a reptillan metamorph/brick that derives his powers from being able to take on multiple aspects of his ancestors, through genetic recollection and racial memories. He was created when an accident with a tanker full of nasty chemicals flooded Paynes Prarie and killed off most of the native aligators. Only he, with an activated and rare ubergene, survived.

 

I call him... Dinosaur.

 

There's prolly some issues with the build, but I couldn't post without revealing the suprise at first. The HeroDesigner file is primarily a rough work; I'm choosing to leave it to you on how to work this character into Uberworld and filling in any extraneous details that you think is neccesary. (You are welcome to alter any of it to different aspects; the mechanics involves in just understanding that some things get swapped out to accondomate the changes needed. The martial arts stuff is primarily around what any good carniovorus dinosaur might do.)

 

Let me know how it works for you.

[Guest Lollygagger]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Hey, I just found a couple of your NPCs on the Guardians site. Did you know they're taking your characters?

[Christougher]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Hey' date=' I just found a couple of your NPCs on the Guardians site. Did you know they're taking your characters?[/quote']

 

If you'd read the rest of it, you'd see the note that those characters are used with permission.

[tribe]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

Hey' date=' I just found a couple of your NPCs on the Guardians site. Did you know they're taking your characters?[/quote']

 

Like we've said all along, our interest in developing a new pbem universe came out of our enjoyment of the Global Guardians Universe, and everyone who is helping create Uberworld is still very much active in the GGU as GMs, Players and Administration-Type people (NPC Director for example).

 

We've agreed to some NPC exchange deals to help shape both universes and attract players to both GGU and Uberworld. Jack's picked out some NPCs he really likes and we've done the same, so (for example) we'll be writing Uberworld versions of the Comets soon and adding them to our world.

 

Both the GGU and Uberworld will offer disclaimers or whathaveyou to explain the origin of the characters.

 

And, actually, this comes at a great moment because if you check out other threads you'll see Uberworld is about to start the Call for Submissions for the very first Uberworld game: This Mutant Life.

 

So go and submit a character already!

 

[tribe]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

I call him... Dinosaur.QUOTE]

 

I've been waiting for this.

 

I like your take on the ubergene and Dinosaur looks like a great addition. Was he a potential player character? (Hope so!).

 

I'm just about to start Calls For Submissions for This Mutant Life, so if it looks like a good campaign you'll just need to work out if he is a potential student or teacher.

 

I'll leave submissions open until the end of February before making decisions on the lineup.

[Guest Lollygagger]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

If you'd read the rest of it' date=' you'd see the note that those characters are used with permission.[/quote']

 

Excuse me, then. I haven't found that note yet.

[Lethosos]

Re: Uberworld - a new Champions PBEM Universe

 

I call him... Dinosaur.

 

I've been waiting for this.

 

I like your take on the ubergene and Dinosaur looks like a great addition. Was he a potential player character? (Hope so!).

Well, he's been an idea floating around--it's not like I'm swamped with requests to join a HERO game here in Orlando. (Of which I am not too happy about; we need more publicity than the stupid D&D OGL license! But that's a rant for the blog.) I wanted to show people that, in theory, ubergenes are primate-based. But, under rare circumstances, other forms just might appear... Dinosaur is that anomly in a world of bipedal mammalians.

 

I'm just about to start Calls For Submissions for This Mutant Life, so if it looks like a good campaign you'll just need to work out if he is a potential student or teacher.

Well, if I was gonna actually play him, I'll have to flesh him out even further and write up a full background. But, as that I'll be away from a computer for the first week & half of March, I'll have to respectfully decline joining, as I don't know your projected schedule beyond Submissions.

 

I'm thinking that he can be a student of sorts; Australia is a good habitat for him to handle in a pinch, and I've ben meaning to add a regeneration ability to him anyways. He doesn't have the kind of background that the mammals do, so he'd be a fish out of water, mentally. Lots to learn, lots to understand.