Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

[Vestnik]

CLOWN.

 

OK, we all know these guys are on the outs with the gods (may their beneficence be eternal) who run the Champions Universe. I can see why -- too goofy. However, I think we can see lots of viable non-goofy characters based on comedy themes in the comics that have worked well -- Joker, Riddler and Arcade come to mind, and I'm sure there are many others.

 

Do you see any way to reincorporate CLOWN into the mood of the current CU, by tweaking them, toning down their silly factor and so forth? If DC did it to the Silver-Age Joker, I don't see why we can't do it to CLOWN.

[Shaft]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Make them avatars of a giant underground spider spirit that lives under a small town in Maine. I'm sure all the Stephen King fans would love It.

 

See How They Float?

[Vestnik]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I actually kind of like that.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Perhaps you could make them robotic minions created by Black Harlequin.

[wcw43921]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I think as far as the current Champions Universe is concerned, Black Harlequin (Conquerors, Killers & Crooks, pg.123) is the tweaked-out, toned-down, more "serious" one-man version of CLOWN.

 

But--if, as the tremendous and authoritative Steve Long has asserted time and again, there is no CLOWN in the 5th Edition CU--then who, pray tell, on page 33 of Gadgets And Gear, are those guys in the fancy makeup with big noses scattering the marbles that are causing Kinetik to head straight for a brick wall?

 

Something to think about--isn't it?

[Diamond Spear]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I think with a little tweaking them could become the "comic relief" encounter to lighten the mood after a long-running serious story arc. Maybe rewrite them as more of a Robin Hood group.

[Legatus]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Too goofy? Naarf!

 

Dot: a man in an alien powersuit (needs a new look)

Beuford the Bard: martial artist with a mind-controling mandolin and a shakespearean look, resembling Henry VIII to be exact (great concept)

April Foolmaker: mind-controling ventriloquist with a dummy puppet (get rid of that dummy)

Marbles: she fires different kinds of marbles at her opponents, some being magical, some technological (give her powers a more stringent logic and her a real costume)

Random: an Irish gypsy with ever changing powers she cannot control (always loved her)

Merry Andrew: technological genius and gadgeteer (OK, he is goofy)

Skate Kate: a skating chick throwing gas bombs (she is not that much fun and can be neglected in the resurrection of CLOWN)

Slapstick: retired, he bounced liked Danny Kaye, slapped like Moe and walked like Charlie Chaplin (emphasising his retired status, he could be role-played for many tragicomical moments)

Snapshot: a cameraman who turns his victims into photographs (powers definitely need a revision)

Popgun: expelled member, enacting the cowboy role, he has some weird dangerous popguns (as he was intended for a more serious campaign, he must come back; perhaps with a new name and dangerous hi-tech revolvers)

Spotlight: light-controling girl adopted by Merry Andrew (her powers are standard energy projection; her looks could be changed from rainbow colored to almost transparent or white; then put her on a standard villain team an send Merry Andrew searching for her)

Tag: american football, brick, INT 8 (need I say more?, if he is goofy, then the whole sports culture...well that is another subject)

Toe Tapper: dancing martial artist with a mind-controling cane (Fred Astaire gone rogue, he is a classic)

The Trickster: a spirit, a prince of the universe, an elemental force? The true man behind CLOWN! And impressive 2000+ points (4th ed). (we don't need a true power behind the wicked masters of CLOWN, leave him out of this)

Trump Knight: a man in medieval armor with a magic scepter (I've seen lots of guys like him in the comics; goofy factor: zero)

Teehee: the CLOWN Car (needs to race against the Centipede Mobile, so I want see it coming back)

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Dot: a man in an alien powersuit (needs a new look)

 

In my game, I revamped Dot and added him to the Foxbat Five. His powers are now intrinsic. Basically, I kept the look but ditched the powersuit.

 

My Dot is an homage to the Spot from Spiderman comics. Unlike Spot, though, Dot's multicolored "dots" access multiple dimensions, not just one. Most of these dimensions are too dangerous to enter directly, though opening a portal to those dimensions is a good way to generate attacks on opponents.

 

His multi-dimensional portal powers include Stretching (does not cross intervening space), Teleport, Clairsentience, Flash, EBs (physical - water cannon; energy - heat), STUN Drain (radiation), and Entangle (expanding a portal to trap an opponent).

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Too goofy? Naarf!

 

Dot: a man in an alien powersuit (needs a new look)

Beuford the Bard: martial artist with a mind-controling mandolin and a shakespearean look, resembling Henry VIII to be exact (great concept)

April Foolmaker: mind-controling ventriloquist with a dummy puppet (get rid of that dummy)

Marbles: she fires different kinds of marbles at her opponents, some being magical, some technological (give her powers a more stringent logic and her a real costume)

Random: an Irish gypsy with ever changing powers she cannot control (always loved her)

Merry Andrew: technological genius and gadgeteer (OK, he is goofy)

Skate Kate: a skating chick throwing gas bombs (she is not that much fun and can be neglected in the resurrection of CLOWN)

Slapstick: retired, he bounced liked Danny Kaye, slapped like Moe and walked like Charlie Chaplin (emphasising his retired status, he could be role-played for many tragicomical moments)

Snapshot: a cameraman who turns his victims into photographs (powers definitely need a revision)

Popgun: expelled member, enacting the cowboy role, he has some weird dangerous popguns (as he was intended for a more serious campaign, he must come back; perhaps with a new name and dangerous hi-tech revolvers)

Spotlight: light-controling girl adopted by Merry Andrew (her powers are standard energy projection; her looks could be changed from rainbow colored to almost transparent or white; then put her on a standard villain team an send Merry Andrew searching for her)

Tag: american football, brick, INT 8 (need I say more?, if he is goofy, then the whole sports culture...well that is another subject)

Toe Tapper: dancing martial artist with a mind-controling cane (Fred Astaire gone rogue, he is a classic)

The Trickster: a spirit, a prince of the universe, an elemental force? The true man behind CLOWN! And impressive 2000+ points (4th ed). (we don't need a true power behind the wicked masters of CLOWN, leave him out of this)

Trump Knight: a man in medieval armor with a magic scepter (I've seen lots of guys like him in the comics; goofy factor: zero)

Teehee: the CLOWN Car (needs to race against the Centipede Mobile, so I want see it coming back)

 

Personally, I'd shrink this group down to Andrew, April, Beauford, Marbles, Slapstick, and Toe Tapper, with TEEHEE still on hand. Popgun, Trickster, and (as you suggest) Spotlight would be included not as actual current members of the group, but as catalysts for stories both serious and silly. Most of the others are okay, but aren't really strong enough; they can be lighthearted, but not necessarily comedic, supervillains on their own or in separate groups.

 

I'd also rewrite them to make them just a little less harmless. They still wouldn't kill or deliberately injure anybody, or damage irreplacable objects, but they'd have little problem with doing things that cause economic woes and other griefs, like "sell" the Brooklyn Bridge to aliens, deposit the entire contents of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" on the White House lawn (including several kidnapped drummers, British Lords, milkmaids, etc.) as a Christmas gift for the President, or rig the Sci-Fi Channel to show nothing but Michael Moore films.

 

And, as implied above, I'd be sure to have plenty of options for not just over-the-top silly adventures such as those I just described, but also for more serious stories, and for use in "comic-relief" moments in otherwise serious adventures (which, in my own personal opinion, is how they function best).

 

That's what I'd do with them if I was rewriting them for 5th Edition.

[Shaft]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Of course, no serious discussion of clowns can occur without suggesting that they are a covert CIA team...

[Captain Liberty]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

You mean, of course, an entirely serious CIA team.

[Shaft]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

You mean' date=' of course, an entirely [i']serious[/i] CIA team.

 

Is there any other kind?

[pinecone]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I can only see two ways I could use Clown...1) "We dress like clowns so heros will underestimate us"

 

or 2) A group of wacky heros like Foxbat....don't really see the need. I guess in "Silver age" games wacky foes are a genre thing so feel free....but I don't Like silver age.......

 

Either way I'd make them a little more "real" I'd likely let them do harm with mean spirited jokes as well.....(Bronze age Clown...)

[Legatus]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Hey Bob, can they sell Brooklyn Bridge again? How often have they done in your campaign?

[Legatus]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Maybe I'll post some ideas later about what the members of CLOWN are doing today.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Make them avatars of a giant underground spider spirit that lives under a small town in Maine. I'm sure all the Stephen King fans would love It.

 

See How They Float?

 

BEEP BEEP, RICHIE!

[hfergus]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I kind of already re-wrote them. Well, actually Merry Andrew only. I ignore the rest; they do not exist in my campaign. Merry Andrew is somewhat goofy still, but only to embarass heroes (esp the stuffed shirt, way too serious type). Still will not kill or steal things that have sentimental value, but he does steal and cause chaos (putting the words "Enterprise" on the last shuttle launch and playing the Star Trek theme on one TV news show about it for one.) Him and my mad mage Olorin get along pretty well, as Olorin is a goofball. Right now Merry Andrew is running a "Olorin for president" campaign. Olorin was not born in the US and he has already said "If nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve" - for all the good it does. The media (most of it) is having a ball with it, kidding right along, but some people actually take it seriously. Olorin is not too irritated, but others of the group are.

 

Some heroes groan when he shows up, he makes them look like a joke. He is a bit closer to GRAB in tone, only a bit sillier and very likely to help out if a real baddie shows up (Hates Doctor Destroyer "He has no sense of humor.")

[KA.]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I think the major problem with CLOWN was not their goofiness, but that they almost forced the GM to "bully" the players.

(This may not be Steve's problem with them, but it is certainly mine.)

 

Basically, by having them be "playful" and not "evil", it meant that the players had to just stand around looking like fools.

If you just let them pull their pranks, things would go on forever.

If you tried to beat them at their own game, the deck was very much stacked against you. (Most PC's do not have a suite of prank powers.)

If you beat the living crap out of them, like you probably wanted to, your characters would look like "bullies".

 

Which basically meant that the only one having fun was the GM, and that was at the Players' expense.

 

Just not my idea of a good time,

 

KA.

[nexus]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

The group I used them with actually had a pretty good time with ClOWN. They got pranked a few times but took it well, returned the favor a few times and eventually ended up working with them to take down a Viper installation. Mostly CLOWN didn't bizarre and more amusing things in the campaign background. Getting pranked by them was something like getting your song parodied by Weird AL, a strange sort of honor.

[lemming]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Well, he pulled it on Rorschach, and Rorschach dropped him down an elevator shaft.

[lemming]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I think KA. has excellent points. I had a couple GMs that pulled similar actions and while a normal supervillain, you may not beat them, but you wouldn't be humiliated. With someone like CLOWN, you'd get humiliated as well.

[JmOz]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I like clown

 

I think for a modern campeign you need to have them not be looked at as "villains" but more the board super powers group. People complain about them, but always want to see what they do next. For an example from the real world thing of people like Paris Hilton, someone who is famous for being famous.

 

Also the players must be willing to take the joke, there characters can get pissed, but the players have to be of the right mind set of "This is not happening to me"

[Mark Rand]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

Although I won't use CLOWN itself in my IST San Angelo campaign, I may create my own villain team based on their style.

 

Although I don't have any character ideas, yet, two, one man and one woman, will dress like Medieval jesters.

[nexus]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

I like clown

 

I think for a modern campaign you need to have them not be looked at as "villains" but more the board super powers group. People complain about them, but always want to see what they do next. For an example from the real world thing of people like Paris Hilton, someone who is famous for being famous.

 

Also the players must be willing to take the joke, there characters can get pissed, but the players have to be of the right mind set of "This is not happening to me"

 

You could cast them less as villains and more like "performance artists" with super powers that sometimes run afoul of the law or a the metahuman answer to Jackass.

 

I think the Champions U could stand a few more lighthearted or even comedic elements, honestly.

[JmOz]

Re: Thou Shalt Not Speak Its Name

 

You could cast them less as villains and more like "performance artists" with super powers that sometimes run afoul of the law or a the metahuman answer to Jackass.

 

I think the Champions U could stand a few more lighthearted or even comedic elements, honestly.

 

I was thinking the "metahuman answer to Jackass"