7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

[ZombiePope]

I've got this idea for a group of NPCs. A coven of warlocks accidentally summons 7 heroes from earth's past into the present. They posess the bodies they had in their prime, but all the memories of their life up to death. escaping, they discover the world is far different, and putting aside any cultural differences they may have, decide to band together to fight the forces of darkness, as well as acclimate to this strange new age (providing some comic relief)

 

I've got no idea who to use. I know Conan is going to be there (The Hyborean age occured in my campaign's past, and he's fricken cool) but who among our past were paragons of justice who dedicated their lives to fighting evil (or their nations enemies, and maybe a few innocents... I know none of these people were so perfect)? has anyone done anything like this? I'm thinking something like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but from different time periods, and in the modern world. with superheroes, so they'll be relatively low-powered.

[Doug McCrae]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Jesus

[ZombiePope]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Jesus

I don't wont this to be Super Best Friends. Jesus was cool, but he was a pacifist.

[Doug McCrae]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Achilles, Lancelot, Robin Hood, Paul Bunyan, Muhammed Ali and Bruce Lee.

[ZombiePope]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Achilles' date=' Lancelot, Robin Hood, Paul Bunyan, Muhammed Ali and Bruce Lee.[/quote']

Uhhh... Achilles, Lancelot, Robin Hood, and Paul Bunyan are all mythical/semi-mythical, and Muhammed Ali is still alive. I guess Bruce Lee would work, but I don't want more than one from the same century.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Lancelot and Robin Hood are both good choices, particularly if the characters are supposed to be basically "heroic" in the modern sense. Along those lines, I'd recommend Beowulf and Hiawatha. Perhaps an American frontiersman, like Natty "Hawkeye" Bumpo.

[Hermit]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Conan the barbarian (Muscle and Barbaric guile)

Sherlock Holmes (Batman WHO?)

Sparticus (Fantastic leader, uniter of men)

Sir Lancelot (Knight who fell far, and may welcome another chance for honor)

Scarlet Pimpernel (Master of disguise)

Alvin York, (dead shot hero of WWI who was a grade A hunter)

Amelia Earheart (because you'll need a pilot with guts to get the team places)

 

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see the 'not from the same century' requirement.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Uhhh... Achilles' date=' Lancelot, Robin Hood, and Paul Bunyan are all mythical/semi-mythical, and Muhammed Ali is still alive. I guess Bruce Lee would work, but I don't want more than one from the same century.[/quote']

 

You don't want mythical, but you're including Conan?

 

I think we need more guidelines as to what sort of figures would and would not be appropriate.

[Hermit]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Yeah. With Conan there I thought fictional works were in. Hence some of my picks

[ZombiePope]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

You don't want mythical, but you're including Conan?

 

I think we need more guidelines as to what sort of figures would and would not be appropriate.

Yeah, I was a bit vague. I'm working off the assumption that Conan was a real person, but figures like King Arthur, Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood were based on real people, but they have been changed far by oral storytelling from their original forms.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Sparticus (Fantastic leader' date=' uniter of men)[/quote']

 

Plus a freedom fighter, and a fricken' gladiator! Excellent suggestion.

[ZombiePope]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Plus a freedom fighter' date=' [b']and[/b] a fricken' gladiator! Excellent suggestion.

yeah, Sparticus would work. but what if I'm Sparticus?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Hm, I should probably go back over those "You Gotta Have Character" columns from Digital Hero.

 

From historical figures, though, my first thought is Miyamoto Musashi, Japan's greatest swordsman.

 

Back to the American frontiersman angle, Davy Crockett might fit.

 

A word of warning, though: Conan is larger than life compared to any historical figure, and will likely dominate the rest of this crew.

[ZombiePope]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

yeah, Sparticus would work

[ZombiePope]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Hm' date=' I should probably go back over those "You Gotta Have Character" columns from [i']Digital Hero[/i].

 

From historical figures, though, my first thought is Miramoto Musashi, Japan's greatest swordsman.

crap, I don;t have a subscription to Digital Hero

[Lord Liaden]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Well, I don't think it would be worthwhile subscribing just for the few characters that might suit this project. DH really has a lot of quality stuff, though, for any and all genres. A $30.00 US subscription for 10 issues (each 64 pages) is an excellent deal IMHO, and you don't have to buy them in order; you can choose any issue that sounds useful to you.

[ZombiePope]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

yeahhh... soon as I get a job I'll get DH. As for your advice regarding Conan, yeah, I'll nix him. The Wall of Eternity (created by Oremesh the Archmage to prevent Takofanes from summoning Turakian demons) would ban him anyways. I will playing this whole bunch a little larger-than-life, however.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

BTW, here's a link to info about Miyamoto Musashi. With his accomplishments you won't have to make him much larger than life. And he actually has an excellent HERO writeup in DH #11.

 

To add a little gender balance, may I suggest Boudica?

[Mike W]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Ok, my personal list of 7 that I would want(in no particular order) and sticking to real life or low powered fictional characters:

 

Sherlock Holmes

Jasper Maskyllyne

Natty Bumpo/Hawkeye

Athos

 

 

I'll have to think about the rest.

[Badger]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

BTW' date=' here's a link to info about Miyamoto Musashi. With his accomplishments you won't have to make him much larger than life. And he actually has an excellent HERO writeup in DH #11.

 

To add a little gender balance, may I suggest Boudica?

 

Boudica might sound like a good idea. But I am not so sure. It would depend on the "Comic Age". She did do some brutal things to Roman civilian if memory serves. She might be more of a Bronze/Iron Age type than Gold/Silver. Though another possible female would be the obvious (too obvious) Joan of Arc. Though she might be too well known to work real well. But you could use her "visions from God" usefully for precognition.

 

 

Note: Boudica- given what was done to her and her daughters (which sparked on her crusade to begin with) would make a good angsty Dark Champions type however.

 

 

Oh and I read about Musashi on wiki. I knew some about him but not to such detail. Yikes, if you added the legend to the man.......one serious bad@$$ is all I can say.

[Half Baked]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

Uhhh... Achilles' date=' Lancelot, Robin Hood, and Paul Bunyan are all mythical/semi-mythical, and Muhammed Ali is still alive. I guess Bruce Lee would work, but I don't want more than one from the same century.[/quote']

 

Almost all historical based heroes have a mythical element as a legend develops around them. This even happens with modern day heroes as parts of their story get emphasised and others submerged depending on who is telling the story. Look at the controversy that surrounded the movie Schindler's List. Was Schindler a hero who acted out of compassion, friendship and sense of rightness or was he a greedy businessman who exploited the Jews for profit? There is no need to argue which is correct, what is important is that both views of Schindler and his motivation are out there. It is quite possible neither is true and what we are left with is a distortion, much as any legendary figure that is based on truth such as King Arthur.

 

The further back you go the more difficult it becomes to separate fact from fiction. Take Alexander the Great. There are two extreme views on him. One that he was a visionary who had a great dream about the brotherhood of man. The other was that he was a bloodthirsty, drunken, egotistical, meglomaniac tyrant who saw war and conquest as a means to stroking his enormous ego and need for glory and public aggrandisement. Which was true?

 

With historical figures from cultures with an oral tradition, rather than a written on it is even harder to gain a balanced view of what that person was like. Someone mentioned Boudiccea. Most of what we know about her that is proveable as contemporary comes from her enemies, the Romans. Are they going to paint a truthful picture of her? Any sympathetic interpretation comes much later and would based on a great deal of supposition and distorted oral tradition.

 

The point of all that is where do you join the line between a myth and fact with historical figures?

[Lucius]

7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

I don't wont this to be Super Best Friends. Jesus was cool' date=' but he was a pacifist.[/quote']

 

Tell it to the moneychangers. And didn’t He supposedly say “I bring not peace, but a sword?”

 

However, I'd avoid this one, if only because it would bring not peace, but a sword (or at least a lot of bitter disputation) to most gaming tables.

 

Uhhh... Achilles' date=' Lancelot, Robin Hood, and Paul Bunyan are all mythical/semi-mythical, and Muhammed Ali is still alive. I guess Bruce Lee would work, but I don't want more than one from the same century.[/quote']

 

Um…you want Conan, but have a problem with Achilles and Lancelot because they’re mythical?

 

Besides not wanting more than one from the same century, I’d try to have a representative sample from around the world. i.e. not necessarily all Western European heroes.

 

Yeah' date=' I was a bit vague. I'm working off the assumption that Conan was a real person, but figures like King Arthur, Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood were based on real people, but they have been changed far by oral storytelling from their original forms.[/quote']

 

Then is there any reason they can’t appear – in their original forms?

 

Do the wizards necessarily know exactly what they’re getting with this Summoning anyway?

 

Allow me to endorse these who have already been mentioned:

 

Miyamoto Musashi. Paramount swordsman of a nation of great swordsmen.

 

Spartacus. What can I say beyond what’s already been said in this thread?

 

Boudica. The Romans knew they’d been in a fight…

 

Sgt York. Solidly historical.

 

Sherlock Holmes. Someone has to do the thinking….

 

Robin Hood. Or another of the great woodsrunning outlaws and rebels of British history whose individual stories all eventually got subsumed into this single iconic figure.

 

Joan of Arc. Besides being capable of inspiring armies, she allegedly talked to faeries and her enemies accused her of “witchcraft.” Hmn.

 

And make a few suggestions:

 

Judah Maccabee. At this time of year you shouldn’t have trouble finding information about HIM.

 

Zenobia of Palmyra. She stood up to both Rome and Persia, the superpowers of her world, and probably would have the brains and courage to resist comic book superpowered villains as well.

 

Bilkis. More commonly known as Queen of Sheba (a country that possibly included parts of both Africa and Arabia on either side of the Red Sea) she is like Zenobia another example of a powerful Arab (probably?) queen.

 

Taussaint L’Ouverture. Like Spartacus, led a slave revolt; unlike Spartacus, Taussaint’s eventually succeeded in founding an independent nation.

 

George Washington. Like Julius Ceasar, turned down a crown when it was offerred; unlike Ceasar, he managed to not turn a young republic into an autocratic empire.

 

Simon Bolivar. The George Washington of South America.

 

William Tell. I bet he could learn to handle a modern rifle as accurately as his famous crossbow.

 

Tecumseh. A Shawnee leader who was so admired even by his enemies, one of the proposed names for the state capital of Indiana was Tecumseh.

 

Joe Greenstein. AKA The Mighty Atom. A 20th Century strongman, whose astounding feats invite comparison to Samson and who, I hear, sometimes credited his powers to the mystical discipline of Kaballah.

 

Shaka. Leader of the Zulu. Might have Inventor or Weaponsmith; he is credited with both inventing new weapons and training the troops how to use them. Reportedly underestimated the effectiveness of firearms (which in his day WERE slow to reload,) a mistake he wouldn’t make again.

 

Mulan. If she really existed, she is a Chinese example of a worldwide phenomenon; I suspect few all-male armies have escaped being infiltrated occasionally by women determined to fight.

 

Arthur. Unlike Lancelot, the legend is probably based on a real person; the facts are obscure enough you have a lot of leeway in writing him up, though. Besides leading the Round Table he was credited with being a doughty knight on his own account.

 

Merlin. Although later associated with Arthur, the original Merlin was actually from a later date, and a different part of Britain; he was originally a warrior who had some kind of traumatic (or mystical?) experience during a great battle, threw down his arms, wandered around for the rest of his life known as a mad prophet. You could make him a Precognizant who still retains his warrior skills.

 

Audie Murphy. Solidly historical; a “living legend” in his time. America’s most decorated soldier in World War Two, besides having careers in acting and music after the war.

 

And just because I can’t resist throwing in one of my personal heroes:

Eugene Bullard. Boxer, Machine Gunner, Combat Pilot. Fought in both World Wars, and allegedly worked with French Intelligence authorities in between. Trained boxers in an athletic club he owned between the wars. Never backed down from a fight in his life. Even got in on the early Civil Rights movement after returning to America.

 

Yes, I know, that’s a lot more than 7, but you can pick and choose.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Pompous pedant on a palindromedary

[Lucius]

7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

If you want a detective like Sherlock Holmes, but actually historical, try Chang Apana, who was the inspiration for Charlie Chan.

 

A cowboy before becoming a police officer, he reportedly eschewed guns and carried a bullwhip instead.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary pedantically notes that "Apana" was a Hawaiianized form of the Chinese name Ah Ping.

[Shaft]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

I'd like to add:

 

Harry Houdini (escape artist/illusionist, aviator, mechanic, pistol/rifle expert, acrobat)

Leonardo DaVinci (Gadgeteer?)

Doc Halliday

Horatio Nelson

Benedict Arnold (I'm Canadian- he's a hero to us!)

Sir Francis Drake

Gilgamesh

A hero of the Trojan War (from either side- many to pick from)

Alexander the Great

 

 

I like a lot of the other suggestions listed above, but I think Bruce Lee and Miyamoto Musashi are excellent choices.

[McCoy]

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

 

I'd like to add:

 

Harry Houdini (escape artist/illusionist, aviator, mechanic, pistol/rifle expert, acrobat)

Leonardo DaVinci (Gadgeteer?)

Doc Halliday

Horatio Nelson

Gilgamesh

A Hero of the Trojan War

 

I like a lot of the other suggestions listed above, but I think Bruce Lee and Miyamopto Musashi are excellent choices.

Doc Holliday?

 

A dentist with turburculosus and a shotgun?

 

If you feel a cowboy is needed at least make it Bat Masterson. (Yeah, like a sportswriter is more heroic than a dentist any day.)