Champions Universe: Through the 'Ages'

[Hermit]

Tarnished Silver

 

Originally posted by OddHat

 

So are you going to give us some guidelines for your Tarnished Silver Setting?

 

Oh, it's not like I have them written up so what I say tonight might decide to change next week etc. However, I guess I "Tarnished Silver" for me, would be a casual disregard for 'realism in powers' (The laws of Physics are more like polite suggestions ) and a line between good and bad. However, that line does have a few small holes and gets more of a bronze age feel in many spots. No one really worries about HOW VIPER can field all those agents and where its budgeting comes from, but they do have to worry about individuals and the problems they may face. I guess I'm saying I sort of play a Silver Age setting with Bronze age people.

[Hermit]

An Iron Age Dr D?

 

Tell me what you think of this idea for a more "Iron Age" Dr Destroyer.

 

In an Iron Age world, Dr. Destroyer seems to cling to all the clche's that have been abandoned by many others. He wears a grandiose costume. He gives long speeches demanding the Earth submit to he and his army. Destroyer's methods have lived up to his name. He has brutally attacked whole cities with bombs (At least one detonation was of atomic nature), chemical weapons and artficially engineered plagues. He has killed dozens of super powered foes, and millions of normal citizens. He is the most wanted man in the world, and no one can stop him.

 

No one except Pr. Herman Berkman, a dedicated man who escaped the city that was destroyed and has used his genius to counter and twhart Dr Destroyer at every turn. Berkman's genius is a match for the villain's own. Not just scientifically, but in matters of Security. It is he who helped turn the UN into an organization with Teeth, but when offered to be it's head, he declined and "to set an example that military power must always yield to civilian needs" has taken a lesser post over UNTIL. He has worked avidly and doggedly to make sure UNTIL is stationed in major capitals all over the world checking the last lines of security with a fine toothed comb.

 

No one can deny he is a hero, for he's saved many cities from the madman's schemes. He seems to enjoy the company of people of all walks, especially the young. His popularity is international and some older parents are glad their kids have someone to idolize who isn't an athlete or musician. His men would die for him, and Berkman is very aware that the Destroyer could try to subvert the leaders of various UNTIL bases, so takes care to hand pick them himself.

 

Of course, the world would be less comfortable if it knew that Berkman's real name was Albert.... and that when he arranges "Berkman's" final triumph over the hated alter ego he's created; he will be in a real position to take over the world that loves it's savior. Those that don't, well, the old fashioned way is a ready plan B.

[OddHat]

Re: An Iron Age Dr D?

 

Originally posted by Hermit

Tell me what you think of this idea for a more "Iron Age" Dr Destroyer.

 

Well done!

 

I can't really think of a decent real-world-with-powers version of Destroyer. I'll try to come up with something.

[David Blue]

Re: Champions Universe: Through the 'Ages'

 

Hermit: "... the muse descend so to speak."

 

Yes she did. Repped.

[Black Rose]

Re: Champions Universe: Through the 'Ages'

 

Agreed' date=' but again the key to keeping a Wild Cards / RWWP feel is to be clear on what exactly that group is, what they do, and why. Twelve Step Supers, the All Supers Bowling League, and the Naughty Tentacles Club are all realistic gatherings of Supers, but very few of them are going to get involved in adventures that don't directly involve their members...er...the people who participate in the groups. The Scooby Gang might. It's keeping the motivation clear that keeps the setting "realistic."[/quote']

 

I want to know... is the Naughty Tentacles Club a group that has naughty tentacles, wants them, or has had them used on them? Or, possibly, a group that fights to protect pneumatically-pubescent Lolitas from Naughty Tentacles.

 

Frighteningly enough, I could totally get into a game like that. Sort of a "DC:TAS Meets Sailor Moon And La Blue Girl". Though I wonder if it would be better to give the PCs no magic, and make them confront the horrors with firepower and guts, or make them more like a serious Sailor Moon team - each with their signature powers, but with more than a nod to realism in the way of armor, communications and such.

 

Gosh, this is actually sounding interesting....

[nexus]

Re: Champions Universe: Through the 'Ages'

 

I want to know... is the Naughty Tentacles Club a group that has naughty tentacles, wants them, or has had them used on them? Or, possibly, a group that fights to protect pneumatically-pubescent Lolitas from Naughty Tentacles.

 

Yes.

[OddHat]

Re: Champions Universe: Through the 'Ages'

 

I want to know... is the Naughty Tentacles Club a group that has naughty tentacles, wants them, or has had them used on them? Or, possibly, a group that fights to protect pneumatically-pubescent Lolitas from Naughty Tentacles.

 

Frighteningly enough, I could totally get into a game like that. Sort of a "DC:TAS Meets Sailor Moon And La Blue Girl". Though I wonder if it would be better to give the PCs no magic, and make them confront the horrors with firepower and guts, or make them more like a serious Sailor Moon team - each with their signature powers, but with more than a nod to realism in the way of armor, communications and such.

 

Gosh, this is actually sounding interesting....

 

Nice to see a campaign coming together.

[Hermit]

Pardon the bump. Now that we're in the 6th Edition, and some slight alterations have been made, do you think they've pushed the CU to be more or less iron age? And for that matter, have you found your preferences for which 'comic book age' you run your campaigns at have changed?

[Christopher R Taylor]

I don't know if its because that's what I grew up with or what but bronze age always feels the best fit for Champions to me; 80s Xmen, Fantastic Four, Justice League, Avengers, etc.

[Scott Baker]

Since the Modern Age of comics has lasted for ~30 years, I think the CU is firmly in there somewhere.

 

I personally haven't changed my preference. I'm kind of stuck in the Bronze Age (if I get to choose), and just haven't had the chance to run a Golden Age game. The game I'm currently in is definitely in the Modern Age.

[DusterBoy]

There's a scene in the New Avengers where Luke Cage tells a reporter that he joined up on the condition that the Avengers, instead of playing X-Box and watching TV between super-villains, got into uniform and just showed up in a particular neighbourhood to throw a scare into the local crims and make them take their business someplace else, then repeat the process, to make it too non-profitable for them to operate there. He called it IMPACT super-heroing, after a similar programme by the (I think) NYPD. He then points to where there's a crack house near a school and demands to know why no-one seems bothered by this. He then threatens to come back and tear it down unless it was dealt with by the authorities.

 

That's the kind of stuff I can see super-teams doing in the "real world".

 

I haven't got it exactly right, but that's certainly the gist of it.

[Christopher R Taylor]

The guys in my Golden Age Champions game do that stuff between sessions.  They show up and strong arm criminals, show themselves prominently, and protect people.  One of the characters started up a school and boarding house for girls to get them off the streets, although there's been some problems there.  The locals love them, cops aren't fond, and the mob hates them.  But its what superheroes should do.

[Hermit]

Looks like a lot of us who grew up in the Bronze Age favor it still. They say the true golden age of comics was whenever you were twelve, there maybe some truth to it But the others remain well represented.

There's a scene in the New Avengers where Luke Cage tells a reporter that he joined up on the condition that the Avengers, instead of playing X-Box and watching TV between super-villains, got into uniform and just showed up in a particular neighbourhood to throw a scare into the local crims and make them take their business someplace else, then repeat the process, to make it too non-profitable for them to operate there. He called it IMPACT super-heroing, after a similar programme by the (I think) NYPD. He then points to where there's a crack house near a school and demands to know why no-one seems bothered by this. He then threatens to come back and tear it down unless it was dealt with by the authorities.

 

That's the kind of stuff I can see super-teams doing in the "real world".

 

I haven't got it exactly right, but that's certainly the gist of it.

 

I remember that comic book. I thought it was a good way to show Luke Cage's priorities . Of course, how much social impact heroes are allowed to have varies in the genre but status quo is often king in any age, so in the above example, Luke makes his point and seems more 'realistic', but Marvel would never show a NYC where crime is reduced to nigh Utopian levels even IF the heroes could pull it off.