fredrik_nilsson Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 I'm considering introducing alternate worlds into my Champions Universe campaign in the same styles as DCs Elseworlds. Can you please help me get some inspiration? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hfergus Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Re: Elseworlds How about some classics? Try a world where the Nazis won. How about one where the Nazis won, but they were the good guys and America was fascist? I've done both. The Nazis as the good guys freaked my players out. There are so many. What about Kilingons showing up? (This is more of a crossover, but it is an alternate world.) Yup. Did that too. Babylon 5, Starwars, many others. Does this start the juices flowing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Elseworlds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elseworlds See also * What If...? , a similar concept at Marvel Comics. * List of Elseworlds publications * Multiverse (DC Comics) * Hypertime * Marvel Universe Champions (Superhero) Resources - Any Superhero Setting can be Adapted or Converted http://herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31865 Defunct Comics and Manga Publishers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_comics_and_manga_publishers That's Why I love Hero System. QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redmenace Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Re: Elseworlds I would add Marvel's Exiles comic which is essentialy a "campaign" made up of adventures on alternate versions of the Marvel universe. It is slated to reboot soonproviding a good jumping on point. EXcalibur Version 1, which also had many alternate Earths. Marvel's Captain Britain, by Alan Moore which had alternates and characters from said coming back to home earth to vex the main characters. Champions 3-D, a 3rd or 4th ed. sourcebook fo sliders style campaigns. There has been atleast one thread on this topic before, so a serch might solve some problems. As you phrased it as elseworlds, what pre existing universe is it set in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Archeville Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Assuming you want to do Elseworlds/What Ifs based on the Champions Universe: * A world where the Cataclysm never occurred, leaving Atlantis still a major power. * A world where the RSvKg's rituals in 1938 badly backfired, resulting in... nothing. As a result, there was no swell of superhumans in WW II or onward. * A world where the invasion of the Sirians (the aliens behind the assault on Grovers Mill, NJ) occurred a century earlier, in 1838. They either take over and enslave the human race, or succumb to Earth forces/bacteria but not before doing a lot of damage. * A world where, when Mechanon appeared in 1985, he succeeded in his plan to wipe out all life. The world's an irradiated wasteland, with few survivors (see Post Apocalyptic Hero for more info). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Some of the classic DC Elseworlds seem to involve changing the time (as was done in the very first one -- Gotham by Gaslight... [wasn't that the title?]), or changing a pivotal event (Superman lands in Russian in Red Son). So you might want to consider making alterations of the sort to your time line and going from there. I'm not 100% on CU events that are going to be world-changing, but right off the top of my head, you could set everything back about 125 years, and have masked mystery men fighting the clockwork Dr. Destroyer in a steampunk setting. That's a classic Elseworlds bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketchpad Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Use SAS' Empire City and M&M's Freedom City as other dimensions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Use SAS' Empire City and M&M's Freedom City as other dimensions Does Heroes Unlimited (or whatever that Palladium game is) have a city setting? All I ever remember seeing was a prison facility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alverant Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Dr.Destroyer is killed fleeing Nazi Germany. All the supervillains in his employee now work for Viper. Oh yes, with no Dr.Destroyer there's no Viper-Destroyer war. (And Viper still has that mystic lamp thing if you use 5th ed.) No not only is Viper more powerful, one of their biggest checks isn't there anymore. Viper is now the biggest criminal organization and has been absorbing every other gang from the Yakuza to LA street gangs to religious terrorist groups. Presently the Supreme Serpent is ready to start his scheme to take over the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Does Heroes Unlimited (or whatever that Palladium game is) have a city setting? All I ever remember seeing was a prison facility. They had something called "Skrapers", but I never looked inside, because, dude, "Palladium". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadodel Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Mendel, whilst studying genetics; reached two conclusions. The first was quite obvious: humans have yet to reach their full potential. The second was quietly reached and secretly pursued: humans are imperfect and it was possible to create artificial life. The latter could coexist with the former. Mendel recuited likeminded collegues and students to his cause. In fact, Isaac Asimov was recuited to write in such a way that the mainstream public would accept the outcome: robots. And later, Androids. And lately, they have been developing free will... Take it from there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Does Heroes Unlimited (or whatever that Palladium game is) have a city setting? All I ever remember seeing was a prison facility. They had Century City. It wasn't a bad setting really, though as it was produced by Palladium I suspect very few people ended up caring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Unlike in the official Champions Universe, Hudson City isn't aloof from all the superhuman activity characterizing other major American cities. However, being Hudson City, it attracts the darkest, most twisted examples of supervillainy. The Harbinger of Justice is still there, now using the comic-book tech of his Fourth Edition incarnation; but he also now has to deal with the likes of Black Harlequin and Blowtorch, the Monster haunting the cathedral and the Leech lurking in the harbor, the homeless being kidnapped by DEMON for sacrifice or Teleios for experimentation. Arcane Adversaries describes a plot by the Devil's Advocates supervillain team to promote a renaissance of magic by turning back technology to pre-Industrial levels. A world where they succeeded would look very different. Superbeings would doubtlessly still exist, but technology-based supers would either be powerless or else have turned to crafting magical equivalents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredrik_nilsson Posted November 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds How about some classics? Try a world where the Nazis won. I have a jew and a German in my playing group, so while there is no official "don't mention the war" attitude in the group I prefer to avoid the topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korvar Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds My favourite Elseworld was Batman-As-Pirate. So come up with versions of the CU that fits the pirating theme. Similarly, the Old West (a la The Justice Riders). And so forth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Archeville Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Sidney Potter had a fiance, a Ms. Granger. When he was mutated into the man-monster Grond in 1986, he sought her out, and found her. His reactions to certain personal effects in their home made it clear to her that he was Sidney... and that drove her mad. Mad enough to make love to Grond (and the stress triggered her latent mutations to make her durable enough to withstand such activities). Weeks later, a dozen eggs were laid, and weeks after that they hatched into Lil' Grondlings. They rampaged about the city, some escaping to the sewers. Most of the times Grond breaks free from imprisonment, he goes to seek out his fiance, who's still crazy and in love, and they spawn another clutch of Grondlings. And by now, most of those early clutches are mature enough to be wanting mates of their own.... This can either be a "Grondlings in the Sewers" world, or a "The Eastern Half of North America is Grond-Country" world, or "All of North America is Quarantined Grond Country" world, or "The entire planet hyas been overrun by Grondlings" world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McManus Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Are you looking for Elseworlds where the players will play characters from within the world and you are looking at how familiar characters would be different (or similar) in different environments? Or are you looking at alternate worlds where the PCs will travel from one to another having adventures in the world of the week? DC's Elseworlds seem more about self contained worlds rather than travel between them. Marvels Exiles is all about world hopping, often worlds that have been glimpsed in What If storylines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredrik_nilsson Posted November 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds I'm primarily looking for "what if"-scenarios for the Champions Universe, but I'm interested in everything regarding parallel worlds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelcyron Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Are you looking for Elseworlds where the players will play characters from within the world and you are looking at how familiar characters would be different (or similar) in different environments? Or are you looking at alternate worlds where the PCs will travel from one to another having adventures in the world of the week? DC's Elseworlds seem more about self contained worlds rather than travel between them. Marvels Exiles is all about world hopping, often worlds that have been glimpsed in What If storylines. Actually, they're starting to become existing parallel worlds. I believe both Red Son (Superman landing in Russia) and the world where Batman is a vampire were both revealed to be among the 52 universes in Countdown. Kelcyron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Alternate realities are sooo numerous, just let your imagination run wild!!! What if the American Indians retained North America West of the 100th meridian? What if the Spanish had moved into North America and beat the Puritans to the punch? What if our nation was historically a Matriarchic society? What if we had no States, a weak Central Government and City States ran the general welfare of the United Societies of America? (Actually, that's my Epic City campaign ). What if dinosaurs never went extinct… and gained sentience? What if religion rules the world... and ecclesiastical (or even secular) wars rage? What if Atlantis was real and really pissed off? What if Japan had seized Western China during WWII instead of grinding themselves to death against the Alliance? (Also an Epic City theme that lead to my campaign’s Rising Sun Hegemony) What if Germany had won WWII? What if the British Empire still held sway over all former holdings? (Yet another Epic City contrivance) WHAT IF ROBOTS RULED THE WORLD?!?!?! Yadda, yadda yadda... So much fun!!! In Epic City (my campaign) the local Sorcerer Supreme: Spellbinder lives in an old mansion named The 30 Gables (due to its, well, 30 gables ). However, the mansion itself is a living entity that rests (like a cork) on this realm's nexus of realities. Below the mansion are immeasurable catacombs and caverns that lead to untold places far and wide. I love to occasionally take a group into the caverns of the 30 gables for a transdimensional tryst. I also love it when I can use the term transdimensional tryst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Actually, they're starting to become existing parallel worlds. I believe both Red Son (Superman landing in Russia) and the world where Batman is a vampire were both revealed to be among the 52 universes in Countdown. Kelcyron Kingdom Come's Star Man has been a part of mainstream DC for some time and KC Superman was just featured in the latest JSA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 7, 2007 Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 Re: Elseworlds I'm primarily looking for "what if"-scenarios for the Champions Universe' date=' but I'm interested in everything regarding parallel worlds.[/quote'] Of past CU events that could have gone another way, probably the biggest would be, "what if Dr. Destroyer's asteroid attack had succeeded?" The United States would have been devastated in 1992, much of its population killed and infrastructure ruined. Dr. Destroyer might have taken control of the remainder, leading to a pseudo-post-apoc America where refugees, freedom-fighters and escaped criminals wander the wastelands, trying to avoid patrols from the remaining cities under Destroyer's tyrannical grip. It would also be interesting to speculate on what developments in the rest of the world over the past fifteen years would have been without America's influence, or substituting the United States of Destruga instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted November 7, 2007 Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 Re: Elseworlds There was a recent thread discussing what the likely results would be if the grand metaplot presented in DEMON: Servants Of Darkness came to successful fruition, only a few years hence: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58922 (WARNING: MANY SPOILERS!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredrik_nilsson Posted November 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Of past CU events that could have gone another way' date=' probably the biggest would be, "what if Dr. Destroyer's asteroid attack had succeeded?"[/quote'] This reminds a bit about the PA Hero with Mechanon as a ruler over the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatus Posted November 7, 2007 Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 Re: Elseworlds Clichées and stereotypes, is that all you can think of when talking about Germany? Why does it always have to be: What if the Nazis had won World War II? Try to use some other starting points for your alternate universe setting: What if Germany had won World War I? Would the Kaiser still rule? What if Germany had developed into a strong centralistic country (like France) in the 16th century? What if King Gustav Adolph of Sweden had won the Thirty Year's War? Would Sweden still rule Germany? What if napoleon had succeeded in conquering Europe and had created a Union of European Colonies under a French regime? Countless possibilities! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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