Champs and players with no comic book background

[Lumbering Ox]

Anyone here play Champions without a background in reading superhero comics, or watching those old superhero cartoons?

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

Any particular reason you ask?

 

Do you yourself not have such a background? Are you trying to involve players who don't? Or...?

 

But not me. Read tons of supers comics.

[Lucius]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

Hi. Were you looking for me?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary likes comics, but seldom gets to eat any.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

Reading the comics, nope, not really. A handful here and there, but my folks were always more than a little leery of letting me read a lot of the comics, particularly the Wolverine sorts, and our local shops were about as well stocked as an old-west general store in a ghost town.

 

In the year 2028.

 

After a nuclear holocaust.

 

The cartoons, however, I did watch, more or less voraciously. Gradually collecting them as they come out on DVD, particularly Batman: TAS.

 

And, I'll have to admit, it shows in my general play and character creation style. I've often come up with a name, character concept, whatever... only to have Adam (who, while not necessarily more widely read than I, is much more widely researched) point out that the character already exists.

 

It's rather irritating to come up with a perfectly good character and be accused of ripping off Comic Book X you've never heard of.

[Lamrok]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I read some, way back when, but my interest was short-lived. I'd rather participate than spectate - which also explains my general apathy for professional sports.

[red_eagle123]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

When I started my current champions game back right after 5th Ed. first came out, 2 out of the 6 players had never read comics, never seen a comic book movie or otherwise been exposed to super-heroes as a medium. 2 Of the other players had been exposed through media (Namely seeing movies, such as Mystery Men or Batman) but never read the comics. Of the remaining two, I'm not sure how deep his comic knowledge was but he'd played Champions back in 4th and possibly 3rd editions, and the last one is as voracious a comic reader as I am (He and I frequently discuss the state of comics)

 

It took awhile to get the two complete newbies up to speed, but now they'r pretty well versed in the basic tropes of comic books and their heroes and villain stories.

[McManus]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I once tried to start a 4-color campaign with some players who were not comic book readers. They ended up coming up with characters that fit better in Planetary or MIB than JLA or Avengers. In the end I called the game because that was not the story I wanted to tell and they had no interest in tights and capes.

 

I think that playing supers with someone not familiar with the genre can cause confused expectations. As long as those are discussed and decided before hand I imagine it can work.

[input.jack]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

Through luck and timing, almost all of the gamers in my circle are quite familiar with comics. (Most of us read them back in the 80s, before comics started to suck so bad in the 90s that black holes get jealous).

 

However, our most recent addition had no real exposure to comics, other than having seen X-Men, Daredevil, and Spider-man and the abominable Burton and Schumacher Rubberbatman movies.

 

We showed her the Chris Reeves Superman, Rocketeer, Phantom, the Batman Animated Series, the Superman Animated Series, and Justice League series. We let her read our compiled Astro City collections, and Batman Begins.

 

She is now ONE OF US!

[ghost-angel]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I don't read comics, never really have. I barely followed the comic cartoons. I have seen some of the movies.

I know major characters, basic plots and some concepts.

 

But I really don't know enough of the genre to emulate it as well as most on these boards. That said, Champions is actually my least favorite genre to game in, and often the genre I find myself in games of the most often.

[input.jack]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

Champions is actually my least favorite genre to game in' date=' and often the genre I find myself in games of the most often.[/quote']

 

That seems to be the way of the world. Personally, my least favorite genre is Fantasy. Mostly because (a) its been done to death, and ( bad GMs use "magic" as the excuse to do stupid things.

 

But I end up in more fantasy games than anything else.

 

Some are good. Some are great! But Id rather be playing a Superhero setting or science fiction

[Lumbering Ox]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

Any particular reason you ask?

 

..

 

Just wondering

[Maccabe]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

If I may go on a tangent of sorts.. .. My friends all read X-Men while I read other titles. When I played their superhero games we met Magneto, faught Sentinels, etc. In my games the PC's met the Avengers, plus alot of solo-heroes; Spiderman, Moon Knight, etc

With the differences in our background reading there were some "interesting"

times. Today I mostly used either Champions NPC's; Green Dragon, Brick, Dragonfly, or a villain I made up .

[Dino]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I've never understood why people want to play superhero games when they don't read superhero comics. Around here, whenever a new supers game is starting up, we get people coming out of the woodwork to play who have no comic book background. Or worse, they only read manga or anti-hero books (nothing wrong with that, but they aren't superheroes).

 

Even stranger are the people who do read comics but don't think superhero games should be taken seriously.

 

"Are the books you read serious?"

 

"Sure."

 

"Then why the flying **** don't you play your character that way?!?"

 

Some people's children...

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I've never understood why people want to play superhero games when they don't read superhero comics. Around here, whenever a new supers game is starting up, we get people coming out of the woodwork to play who have no comic book background. Or worse, they only read manga or anti-hero books (nothing wrong with that, but they aren't superheroes).

 

Even stranger are the people who do read comics but don't think superhero games should be taken seriously.

 

"Are the books you read serious?"

 

"Sure."

 

"Then why the flying **** don't you play your character that way?!?"

 

Some people's children...

 

Speaking for myself... I may not read comics, but I am possibly as big a fan as you can be without doing so. Read forumites chatting on it, watch spinnoffs, play Champions, etc.

 

I love the idea, but I've been warned off modern comics, and I don't want to spend that much on entertainment anyway.

[input.jack]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

Even stranger are the people who do read comics but don't think superhero games should be taken seriously.

 

"Are the books you read serious?"

 

"Sure."

 

"Then why the flying **** don't you play your character that way?!?"

 

Some people's children...

 

Rappin Rhino comes to mind.....

 

Me: Whats Rhino's real name> Who was he before he became purple and rocky?

 

Player: Huh? Oh, I dont know. Who cares! Hes Rappin Rhino now!

 

Me: *Crash game*

[ghost-angel]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I've never understood why people want to play superhero games when they don't read superhero comics. Around here, whenever a new supers game is starting up, we get people coming out of the woodwork to play who have no comic book background. Or worse, they only read manga or anti-hero books (nothing wrong with that, but they aren't superheroes).

 

Even stranger are the people who do read comics but don't think superhero games should be taken seriously.

 

"Are the books you read serious?"

 

"Sure."

 

"Then why the flying **** don't you play your character that way?!?"

 

Some people's children...

Oh that's easy ... the IDEA behind Superheroes is they're larger than life, and can do anything your imagination came come up with.

 

Comics may not be uibquitous in our culture - but the IDEA behind the Superhero is. Everyone knows who Superman is; he is, at this point, a cultural icon in America. People want to be that when they play the game - but they also bring with them their own idea of how to tell a story that is not "comic book like" ... which is why Champions doesn't have to be Comic Book Hero, it's Super Hero - and they aren't interchangeable terms anymore.

[AdamLeisemann]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I don't read the comics as often as I should.

[GoldenAge]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I've had non-comic readers as players. Though they start out with enthusiasm and are always open to character suggestions and help... Over time they suffer with the delicate nuances of the genre. Very rarely is a non-reader able to catch up to the other comic savvy players. No matter how long they play they continue to wear virtual blinders that hide much of the interesting subplots or comic book nods that make the game fun.

 

The worst moments I've had with non-readers revolve around a lack of player/GM quid pro quo. It's very hard for them to piece together the storyline and follow it to a logical conclusion.

 

Imagine playing Fantasy with someone who only knew about elves from Keebler and giants from green beans.

[Lucius]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I've had non-comic readers as players. Though they start out with enthusiasm and are always open to character suggestions and help... Over time they suffer with the delicate nuances of the genre. Very rarely is a non-reader able to catch up to the other comic savvy players. No matter how long they play they continue to wear virtual blinders that hide much of the interesting subplots or comic book nods that make the game fun.

 

The worst moments I've had with non-readers revolve around a lack of player/GM quid pro quo. It's very hard for them to piece together the storyline and follow it to a logical conclusion.

 

Imagine playing Fantasy with someone who only knew about elves from Keebler and giants from green beans.

 

That might be interesting. That way he wouldn't have any preconceptions that would get in the way. If I'm running the game, I can tell him what Elves and Giants are like in my game, and he can see them without putting them through the filters of past associations. Or if I'm playing an Elf, and he's playing a Dwarf, he won't for example be picking a fight with me because somewhere he picked up the notion that Dwarves and Elves don't get along, even though that idea doesn't apply to this world at all.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Insert palindromedary tagline here

[GoldenAge]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

If I'm running the game' date=' I can tell him what Elves and Giants are like in my game, and he can see them without putting them through the filters of past associations.[/quote']

True, but unless you're JRR Tolkien your Elves and Dwarfs are probably underdeveloped, or you would have to write a book for the character to read.

 

Be honest, your game is probably based on an amalgamation of existing fantasy concepts with no more than a dash of your own invention.

 

A knowledgeable player could/would instantly understand your interpretation of Fantasy and have a short learning curve. There's always the chance that this person could add greatly to your campaign as he jells with you and adds his own invention to the game (based on a solid understanding of your flavor).

 

On the other hand, the uninformed player can only learn from you and would be unable to advance the game on his own. He certainly wouldn't be able to confidently add new dynamics that were soundly grounded in the genre that advance the game (perhaps beyond even your expectations and abilities) as a knowledgeable player might.

[Sketchpad]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I've had some non-comic readers in my group in the past. What I usually do is let them borrow some select trades of the type of game that I'm looking at running, as well as point them to movies and cartoons that have a similar feel. 9 times out of 10, the player usually comes up with a pretty neat hero.

[Zed-F]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I've never really read comics.

 

I have, however, watched a number of comic book character movies, and used to watch animated series in my youth. We had Spiderman reruns come on all the time when I was growing up.

 

I find that I appreciate the idea of superheroic characters better than I appreciate the idea of a comic book world. I tend to prefer 'real world with supers' or 'people with powers' games to games employing genre conventions similar to what you'd find in, say, a Silver Age comic book. No revolving prison doors, silly deathtraps, etc. for me.

[Hermit]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I think a lot depends on my mood. I tend towards 'Tarnished Silver' myself, some of the silly elements that wouldn't make sense, but still pretty complex personalities (Which is not to say Silver didn't often have complex personalities and failings in its heroes, but at its worse that was often lacking) but I can enjoy both cheesier and darker elements if I'm ready for it.

 

The hard part is expectations... I've met folks who think Superheroes=Adam West Batman ..and then others who go for the Tim Burton strap a bomb to the circus guy and walk away type killer Batman... neither having read the comics.

 

And some times a GM has both in the same group. Whew.

 

Fortunately, movies are getting better and more diverse so even non comic readers can be led gently to the movies that capture the feel YOU want.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

Hmm. My first GMs (who were co-GMing) were comic book fans, but their tastes did NOT run along the superheroic. Their favorite series were League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and ElfQuest. Yet they ran a supers game. The tone was . . . not as advertised, but I wouldn't say they ran BADLY.

 

My own experience with comics is a passing familiarity. I've seen a lot of the movies, I know what I like in a storyline, but, when push comes to shove, I prefer manga over comics. Out of a mixed group of comic book fans, I managed to come the closest to the model my GM had in mind for a "legacy" campaign he was trying to run.

 

I'm puzzled about the insistence I'm seeing upthread that one MUST have read comics to be able to play superheroes. Okay, and a wee bit defensive, too. Certainly it helps provide ideas and give perspectives on the fleshing-out of a super's world to read them, but I think one could effectively run a superhero character without ever having picked up a comic book. I've never had a chance to test this theory, but it seems counterintuitive to insist that things MUST be done THIS way to play. Why all the prerequisites? Why not just sit down to have fun and play?

[Lumbering Ox]

Re: Champs and players with no comic book background

 

I have no background with superheros except for the superman movies and the later movies comming out.

 

I think I can handle playing no problem, but I would find GMing rather brutal without modules to rely on. Then again I am not the most creative guy on the planet.