Arkham Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Re: Super Origins The only origin I forbid is the "I'm a mutant." If you want to be a 'mutant', then my question is "What mutagen affected you or your ancestors?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmakaze Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Re: Super Origins The only origin I forbid is the "I'm a mutant." If you want to be a 'mutant'' date=' then my question is "What mutagen affected you or your ancestors?"[/quote'] Heh. I recently used "mom did drugs while she was pregnant..." Q: Where did you get your powers from? A: Basically, I was born with them. Q: Do they run in your family then? A: Um, no. Not really. Q: Then where did they come from? A: The short answer is "Just lucky I guess". The long answer is, well... You know how some guy can work in a nuclear power plant, and one day a squirrel that's been drinking from the glowing water dashes out and bites him? And most guys, they'd get rabies, or lukemia or something. But this one guy, that doesn't happen to him. Instead, he winds up the Amazing Squirrel Man, King of the Rodents. There's no reason; he just drew the lucky card and got to be the one guy in the million who has a freak accident and comes out with superpowers. Q: Your parents worked at a power plant? A: No. My mother did a lot of drugs when she was pregnant. In a fair world I'd have an IQ of 60, or flippers, or something, But instead there was some wild and improbable combination of chemicals and DNA and whatever, and I got born with superpowers. Which boils down to the short answer: "Just lucky, I guess." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Johnston Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: Super Origins The only origin I forbid is the "I'm a mutant." If you want to be a 'mutant'' date=' then my question is "What mutagen affected you or your ancestors?"[/quote'] I'm made uncomfortable by "freak accident that should have killed me". It's way over-used and freak accidents with extremely bizarre outcomes just shouldn't be all that common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkham Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Re: Super Origins I'm made uncomfortable by "freak accident that should have killed me". It's way over-used and freak accidents with extremely bizarre outcomes just shouldn't be all that common. People with the power to move mountains shouldn't be all that common. So a subset of them getting their powers from freak accidents with bizarre outcomes is just fine with me. Different strokes, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSgt Baloo Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Re: Super Origins As far as Superman vs Batman, I can easily wrap my head around Bats whalloping Supes in a contest of wits. Supes may be smart, but he doesn't often have to rely on his intellect to defeat his foes. In a physical contest, however, I believe any plausible scenario would end with Supes asking Bats: "Are you okay?" People with the power to move mountains shouldn't be all that common. So a subset of them getting their powers from freak accidents with bizarre outcomes is just fine with me. I agree. Why shouldn't a freak accident result in a freak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starblaze Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Re: Super Origins Let's see, no aliens: buh-bye Supes, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and Hawkman. No hyper-trained: buh-bye Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary. No Mary Sues: buh-bye Wonder Woman and Zatanna. That pretty much accounts for the whole JLA. Except that each character transcends their origin. I do like to have input on the origins of my players. I warn them that anything they leave undefined is mine to play with and they can't be More Trouble Than They Are Worth. If the character is MTTTAW, that's a warning sign that the player may be also. BTW, Karate Kid is a super-saiyan with a haircut. He is the bomb-diggety, well at least until Waid got a hold of him. Aquaman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starblaze Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Re: Super Origins Well, it's not exactly what you asked for and I don;t have the issue in my hands, but a moment that is kinda fresh in my mind: When Wonder Woman was blinded, she took out almost the entire JLA in a training session. At the same time. This included such heavy hitters as Martian Manhunter and The Flash (Wally West). She was using her other senses to compensate for the loss of her vision. Batman was the only one to get a drop on her and, if I recall, actually tag her (flying kick I think). The excuse being that everyone else was holding back because of her disability and that Bruce wouldn't... and that Batman's Kung Fu and Stealth is apparently just that strong. Mind you, they didn't get to the point of Bats actually taking her down but we all know he had a plan to do so if necessary. Chances are that plan did not involve trading blows with her though... I should probably add I'm not really against Batman/Hawkeye types, though there have been many occasions where bad writing has made them cause the rest of the team look pretty incompetent. This reminds me of A JLU TAS episode, Heart of Darkness. Batman's Batplane gets shot down and he makes a call on his radio as his plane is going down. "I've been shot down, I can't fly". "At all". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Johnston Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Re: Super Origins I agree. Why shouldn't a freak accident result in a freak? The problem with freak accidents is that when they happen again and again they stop looking so freakish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Re: Super Origins The problem with freak accidents is that when they happen again and again they stop looking so freakish. It's not that they've happened a lot, though; just that we're looking at a portion of the population which is significantly biased towards them. It's like going to the support group for a disease only affecting 1 in 10,000 people; if you only spend your time with them, it begins to look less rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSgt Baloo Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Re: Super Origins It's not that they've happened a lot' date=' though; just that we're looking at a portion of the population which is significantly biased towards them. It's like going to the support group for a disease only affecting 1 in 10,000 people; if you only spend your time with them, it begins to look less rare.[/quote'] Exactly my point! If your sample population only includes people who get superpowers from freak accidents, then you are skewing your results. In reality, there are billions of people who do not have superpowers, some of whom may have been involved in a freak accident that resulted, not in superpowers, but in injury, death, or 5 minutes of fame on America's Funniest Home Videos. The odds against anything whatsoever resulting in a superpowered human are so long that any instance of superpowers is a freakish occurrence, no matter what caused them in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioKAOS Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Re: Super Origins Joke Characters. DnD transplants. Anything that should be above the power level we are playing at - i.e. no Gods - avatars of a god is fine, incarnation of a god or of a concept is fine. As long as it doesn't stretch the reality of the situation too far, I'm into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrooveD70 Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Re: Super Origins I can agree on some level that "freak accident origins" are a bit played out, but they are a huge staple of superhero fiction. If I play a superhero game I'm not really pissed because someone has a Freak Accident origin, we foil a bank robbery or Dr. Destroyer threatens the world with an earthquake generator...again. Is it cliche or an homage to the stories we grew up with? I like the Champions Universe for the same reason. It is obviously influenced by Marvel and DC and some of the characters are obvious rip-offs/homages (depending on your POV) but that is what makes it feel like a comic setting. I have played with some that prefer a more original setting but I think the CU gives you a chance to have a DC or Marvel feel while still being able to do what you want with the characters. So that what I use. Hmm I think I rambled a bit off topic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casualplayer Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Re: Super Origins Aquaman? You don't think Atlantis counts as an alien culture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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