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Team Help: The Pride


winterhawk

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I am a total fan of motiff teams such as the Serpent Society, The Royal Flush Gang and the Death Throes (don't ask). I've decided to create/rip-off my own theme based on The Pride mentioned in GURPS SuperScum. Any suggestions from the learned panel? Going off archetypes:

 

Brick

Energy Projector: Snow Leopard, only one I'm sure of

Martial Artist: Like to stay away from the obvious

Mentalist

Metamorph

Mystic

Powered armor

Speedster: Cheetah - too obvious?

Weaponmaster

 

As always, thanks in advance.

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Interesting challenge: many of these archetypes have no obvious feline parallels. Let's see what comes to mind:

 

The obvious Brick cats would be Lion or Tiger - I'd say Lion has more implication of raw force. Perhaps something alliterative, like Iron Lion? Of course the Smilodon was the biggest catlike predator of all, but I'm not sure how that would sound to you, and Sabertooth has already been done.

 

A Weaponmaster would probably take the name of a cat's natural weapons, Fang or Claw. Maybe jazz it up a little e.g. Steel Claw.

 

A Mystic is actually pretty easy, if we can go beyond real world animals: Sphinx. Or if a female, named for the Egyptian cat goddess, Bast.

 

Mentalist... hmm. Best I can come up with would be something implying hypnosis: Catseye. Maybe requiring eye contact?

 

For a Metamorph, perhaps someone who can change from human to feline form, possibly several different types/sizes. This might be a stretch, but how about Missing Lynx? ;)

 

Powered Armor is a real stretch - cats aren't known for their tough hides. My earlier suggestion of Iron Lion would work here, though.

 

To avoid a stereotypical "tiger" Martial Artist, consider taking one from another tradition and a cat native to another region. How about a Brazilian capoerista called Puma or Jaguar?

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This isn't much, but it's tired and I'm late....

 

Weaponmaster might be named for a maneuver - "Slash(er)"

Or "Clawmaster"

 

"Cheshire" is a possible name - implying invisibility, but metamorph could fit also (nothing is quite what it seems)

 

A savage brick might simply go by "Growl" (either the word or the sound)

 

"Mouser" evokes the Fritz Leiber stories too readily, but it's a potential for a thief or martial artist

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Re: Team Help: The Pride

 

Originally posted by winterhawk

I am a total fan of motiff teams such as the Serpent Society, The Royal Flush Gang and the Death Throes (don't ask). I've decided to create/rip-off my own theme based on The Pride mentioned in GURPS SuperScum. Any suggestions from the learned panel? Going off archetypes:

 

Brick

Energy Projector: Snow Leopard, only one I'm sure of

Martial Artist: Like to stay away from the obvious

Mentalist

Metamorph

Mystic

Powered armor

Speedster: Cheetah - too obvious?

Weaponmaster

 

As always, thanks in advance.

 

Some good suggestions already, other options that I can think of:

 

 

Brick: Bengal (Or some other subspecies of Tiger?)

Martial Artist: Want to skip the traditional tiger and such eh? How about Tomcat or Stray, make him a bit of the Artful Dodger type, very streetwise.

Mentalist: I liked the Catseye, but another name that might suit the same FX is Calico. Make sure Calico would be female though :)

Metamorph: Crimson Claw or Red Claw (As in "Red in Tooth and Claw")

Mystic: Jaguars are always good for an aztec type feel mystic.

Powered Armor: M.A.N.E. (Multi Armed Nullifying Exosuit?)

Weapon Master: 9 tails, who uses, guess... a Cat of 9 tails.

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Ooh, some interesting stuff here. I dig "Clawmaster", Monster - might use that myself.

 

Bengal might suit the missing archetype, the Patriot; that region of India has a long independent history.

 

M.A.N.E. is very clever, Hermit. But it strikes me that "Tomcat" is also the name of a fighter aircraft, so that would be quite appropriate for flying powered armor.

 

"Crimson Claw" - whoa, GSVC flashback! ;)

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Brick: a bio-mechanical bipedal Tiger ---C.A.Taclysm

Cybronetic Attack Tiger

 

Weaponsmaster: Whipmaster--Nine Tails (as in Cat of 9 Tails)

Good suggestion, Hermit

 

Martial Artist: The manipulative Invisible M.A--Catspaw

 

Power Armor: German Battlesuit--Steel Panther

 

Mentalist: Male Seductive Empath--Stray Cat or Tomcat

 

Mystic: spellcraft accident human/feline hybrid--Familiar

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Brick :

 

CAT-erpillar, the mechanical cat (stop the tomatoes please!)

Machairodont, Dinofelis ? (subgenders of prehistoric cats)

 

Energy projector:

for female NPC : Sekhmet (lion-goddess of heat/fire in egypt)

Clouded panther (with darkness powers?)

Korat (a race of cat from thailand); this race is supposed to be able to call rain. (weather-related powers)

 

Martial artist

Manekineko ("lucky cat"): it's the cat statuette, symbol of prosperity, you can see in every asian restaurant. I don't know the term chinese use for the same thing.

 

Metamorph

? do you want a werecat or something a la Mystique ?

 

Mystic

"Magic Paw", "Witch-Cat", "graymalkin" are obvious.

 

extract from a site about japanese myths :

"Cats were supposed to grow up to become nekomata, or "goblin cats", unless their tails were cut off. When it grew older, a cat could become an obaké-neko, or literally "ghost cat", as well as any cat that had been mistreated."

 

powered armor

There's a Bronze Tiger in every universe (including in Champions 4th, see one of the Dark Champions SB "Justice not Law" IIRC).

Golden Cat ?

Kitty-Hawk ? (flying armor with a Wright brothers theme)

 

weaponmaster/gadgeteer

why not someone using cat toys as weapons (strings of wool as strangling ropes/entangles, balls, mechanical mouses etc...) , cat-mobile, cat-plane, etc...

 

Patriot :

take some domestic cat race, a lot have a name related to a country and/or culture :

Persian; siamese, Burma, etc...

My personal favorite is "Russian Blue".

 

(and for inspiration for the feline crimelords behind the team, just rent "Cats & dogs" :) )

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Guest C_Zeree

If you need a villain for a team to fight with a cat motif, or this is a villainous band then...

 

Rakshasa, demons from indian myth.

Bodies strong, but bent like an ape, with fur and heads of tigers.

 

They were known sorcerers and shapechangers.

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Catechism (mystic with a religious twist),

Caterwaul (sonic powers), Catamaran...OK I'll stop now.

 

Cat's Cradle, Mouser, Fearful Symmetry ("The Tyger", by William Blake), The King (lion-man with an Elvis fixation?).

 

One thing that occured to me was to take names from "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". You had Growltiger (he'd be the brick or martial artist), Macavity (the mystery cat - teleportation and flight judging from the poem), "magical" Mr. Mistoffelees (desolidification to go through cracks, summoning (seven kittens), plus sleight of hand and ventriloquism), Old Deuteronomy, Gus, the theatre cat (shapechange anyone?), Bustopher Jones, Skimbleshanks, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer. If you thought the last one might not work, try the Rum Tum Tugger! There are a few others as well. As you can see, some are more suitable for supers than others.

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You can also draw on the ever-popular Egyptian theme for cat characters, they are pretty strongly identified:

 

Pharoah - Catman Brick (almost has to be the team leader)

Mafdet - Egyptian goddess in panther form. A good stealth/ninja/mystic type.

Then there is the everpopular priestess of Bast for your team sorcerer

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Wow, some really good suggestions so far...

 

I'm thinking the team is formed by the destroyer goddess Sekhmet, which will give me the Mystic.

 

Tiger seems to be the concensus for the brick...perhaps Siberian? Kinda like the ring of that.

 

Tomcat for the Powered Armor...kind of a Mach 1 from Thunderbolts groove to it. Not bad.

 

I love the idea of the cat's toys as gadgets. Any suggestions for a name?

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep 'em coming.

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Originally posted by winterhawk

Tiger seems to be the concensus for the brick...perhaps Siberian? Kinda like the ring of that.

 

Tomcat for the Powered Armor...kind of a Mach 1 from Thunderbolts groove to it. Not bad.

 

I love the idea of the cat's toys as gadgets. Any suggestions for a name?

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep 'em coming.

 

Maybe you should ask Siberian Tiger first (haven't seen him post in a while, come to think of it)! Seriously, good choice, as is Tomcat.

 

For a gadgeteer, you didn't go for Cat's Cradle or Catspaw, so how about "Boots", after the very clever cat in the story "Puss in Boots"?

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Tiger claw - Kung fu martial artist. The 'Tiger claw' refers to a particular style or school of kung fu which is real AFAIK.

 

Wildcat Strike - Energy blaster, or flying brick. Maybe a strong speedster? Anything that hits hard and fast.

 

Catnap - Induces sleep.

 

Kilkenny - Very tough determined fighter, like Wolverine or the Thing. Refers to a story about the 'cats of Kilkenny' that fought so hard they killed one another.

 

Catamount - Wild, savage fighter. Again probably like Wolverine.

 

The Nine-Lifer - Something to do with cats being reputed to have nine lives. 8 duplicates? Has reincarnated 8 times with full memory and possesses all the skills and knowledge of previous lives? Like Triathlon but with the power of nine men instead of three?

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Another Pride

 

I started creating (but never finished) another version of The Pride for an adult superhero game (adult meaning possible romance and intimate moments). The leader was Smilodon, a light brick/martial artist with some magical abilities. In reality, he was the Lord of Cats, a semi-divine figure who was the next best thing to a Cat God without actually being a God.

 

He used to his control of felines to mind-control several female villains with cat themes/mutations. With new costumes and names, he presented them as the Pride. When off the battlefield, they were his harem, intended as mothers for a new race of powered cat people.

 

Smilodon was intended as a moral quandry for the heroes. While on the one hand, his use of mind-control was bad, he was using it to rehabilitate the women.

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Originally posted by Powerhouse

Smildon doesn't sound like that much of a moral quandry. He's using his powers to rape women through mind control. Any group I ever worked with would have been climbing over each other to take him down.

Hey you gotta sympathise with the guy. Who wouldn't want to have their own harem of sexy catgirls? I sure do.
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Originally posted by Powerhouse

Smildon doesn't sound like that much of a moral quandry. He's using his powers to rape women through mind control. Any group I ever worked with would have been climbing over each other to take him down.

 

Yup, and that's what I was hoping for. On the other hand, a number of the catwomen he enslaved were pretty heinous villains; mass destruction, multiple murders, etc. I wanted somebody to take the other side of the argument and see how successful they were.

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