The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

[Boll Weevil]

At the risk of having my Nerd License revoked, I have not yet seen X-Men III but I plan to ASAP. I have, however, read some of the Astonishing X-Men and am intrigued by the mutant “cure†story idea. Now, the mutant idea itself has been argued ad nauseum on these boards and I certainly don’t want to start all that business up again. What I would like to know if such a “cure†were to become available in the Champions Universe, who would accept it.

 

Although out of current continuity, my first thought goes to the likes of Giganto from Terror Inc. I’ve used Terror Inc a lot over the last decade and always thought Giganto was just a sad character who would gladly give up his powers and go back to mundane life. Who else do you think would come out of hiding and risk capture to take advantage of a cure for their super condition?

[jkwleisemann]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

Hrm. Well, not too clear on all the characters in the CU, mind you, so I can't really say for all of 'em... but by 'cure' are you talking about a cure for specific powers (like mutants) or for any superpower? Taking this out of the XMen Movie-verse makes it a valid question, since we now have legitimate non-mutant supers.

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

Well, I don't want to get into the nuts and bolts of trying to design the specific effects, but The Cure would probably have to be a Transform power (metahuman to regular human) with a cumulative effect and a serious run down the time chart for healing time from the transformation.

 

I don't even want to think about the power modifier for making this universal enough to affect all metahumans, though if it only worked on mutants, that might make the cost somewhat more manageable.

 

The easiest way to make this work, of course, is to make it a GM fiat power, and let the characters deal with it. If I may suggest something though, I would say a long subplot leading up to the introduction of The Cure would be in order, rather than just dumping it into everyone's lap one session out of the blue. A long buildup gives the players more time for fear and loathing, and possibly a couple of them to start investigating the rumors so they can get the rest of the team up to speed without a lot of exposition on your part.

 

By the way, X3 really hasn't lived up to the hype, but I'm still holding out hope that an extended DVD release will clean up a movie that tries to do too much in too short a time.

 

Matt "Ever-the-critic" Frisbee

[Bloodstone]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

Well, if it works on non mutants, one of the first guys that might be willing to be depowered would be Feurmacher. Ofcourse, he can;t go through the legal channels to get it done since he's a wanted terrorist and all, so he would have to steal it. Which could be interesting if the rest of EuroStar was opposed to the idea.

[SKJAM!]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

Of course, it turned out that the "cure" in X3 was actually more of a long-term suppressant. It renders the mutant asymptomatic (sp?) but does not actually change the fact that they have mutant genes. Their kids would still be messed up.

 

I'd suggest making it so that a "cure" only worked on people whose metahuman status came from their genetics, either at birth or due to changes made thereafter ("radiation accident"-type characters.) It's plausible enough for comic book rubber science, and sets up possible friction in multiple-origin worlds.

 

I personally would also go with the slow buildup approach, allowing the politics and action to get to a boil before the actual "cure" is available.

[Boll Weevil]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

All, thanks for your input. For my game, I think the cure may be just a mcguffin. I don't think any of the PC's would be interested so it could just be a plot point to add some drama. While definitely more Marvel than DC, my games don't really play the mutant card very often.

Upon further reflection, I'm sure Radium would gladly rejoin the ranks of the mundane human.

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

Of course, it turned out that the "cure" in X3 was actually more of a long-term suppressant. It renders the mutant asymptomatic (sp?) but does not actually change the fact that they have mutant genes. Their kids would still be messed up.

 

I'd suggest making it so that a "cure" only worked on people whose metahuman status came from their genetics, either at birth or due to changes made thereafter ("radiation accident"-type characters.) It's plausible enough for comic book rubber science, and sets up possible friction in multiple-origin worlds.

 

I personally would also go with the slow buildup approach, allowing the politics and action to get to a boil before the actual "cure" is available.

 

It could also be extracted from an Avatar of Order (I think that was what Mrs Meiggs was...). The power to render things normal was their/her main ability.

 

'No, no powers for you...'

[Hyper-Man]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

So do you think the 'cure' would affect characters like Spider-Man or Hulk?

[Cold Steel]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

In Villainy Amok, there is chapter on a "super power drug". It can be revised into a cure.

 

Imagine a black market that sells knock-offs of the so-called cure.

[HeroGM]

Re: The Champions Universe and the mutant cure

 

In the book the "Cure" is based on the kid's powers. While in a certain distance from him mutant powers cease to work. AS soon as you move out of range the powers instantly return. The "Cure" as is implants a part of the child's gene/blood/whatever so that you are constantly "near him."

 

Since the Hulk and Spider-Man are based on radiation accidents I'd have to nix them being affected. Although if you believe the b.s. that Peter David and others pulled on the Hulk you could get away with 'oh well the radiation activated his latent mutant gene...," personally I prefer the more traditional tellings of the characters.

 

With the end of X3 I'd say the "Cure" is temporary. I'd write it up as a 12-15d6 Supress (or Transform (to non-powered human)), affects mutants only, and wears off on either the weeks or months scale.

 

edit: Oh, and just to add, in the movie/book the person is normally bent over in pain from the transformation. Might add a compound power to it, or even a side-effect. Would have to sit down and really look at it again.