The Old Guard

[Hermit]

Be they semi/fully retired, or still active, most campaign worlds have them. Many of them were fighting crime when the PCs were still in diapers. Warriors of the Gold and Silver ages, champions before the Champions were a team in MC, and heroes that saved the world so many times they've lost count ;They're the "Old Guard".

 

So, who are the old guard in your games? And how do you use them?

[Killer Shrike]

1 of our old guard is a PC; John Wrath, 72 year old retired Silver Avenger.

 

Extreme News Edition reporter Johnny Rocket, a brash and annoying NPC, constantly harrasses him about it, and works his age into just about every question, even to other PCs in reference to him.

[GenreFiend]

It depends.

 

When I run a game, who the Old Guard is (or was), and whether or not they are still active depends on several factors. What world is it set in? How long have Supers been around? How does the general public feel about them? How many giant-sized-multi-title-earth shattering-whole-line-crossover crises have there been?

I ran a game a few months back in which the cities first super-hero appeared in the 1880s. He was called The Lightnin' Kid (Fastest Gun Alive).

[OddHat]

In my current campaign, Patricia Caliban, cousin of the legendary Doc Caliban, still haunts New York Society, willing to offer guidence to young heroes foolish enough to walk the path that cost her everything.

 

The Divine Wind, once Japan's greatest hero, now trainer of heroes and still wanted war criminal hides in a simple temple in the heart of Kyoto.

 

Sir James Hudson, once Big Ben, the man with No Time for Crime, sits in the house of lords, and lends his wisdom to the children who call themselves the Knights of London. Fine lads (and lasses), but not a one of them could be compared to the Knights he lead...

 

Golgatha the Vampire still stalks the night in Philadelphia, just as he has for well over a hundred years, though he is more cautious perhaps than he was when Patricia asked him to help protect her country during WWII.

 

There are others...

 

My core players have played in this game world as pulp adventurers before metahumans were nearly so common and when the Council of Nine still had the power to keep the existence of metahumans a secret, as WWII heroes after the Germans created the Wild Card Virus which unlocked the latent metagenes present in roughly 10% of the worlds population, and in the modern age almost 60 years after Jet Boy failed to stop the release of the WIld Card over New York. Most of the Old Guard are characters they played or significant NPCs they fought.

 

[RDU Neil]

Character driven...

 

My "old guard" come mostly from PC driven origin stories or plot lines. I'll adapt the occasional NPC from a supplement (Hyperion from Sanctuary, Taurus from Zodiac and Sunburst from Classic Enemies) that become very important... but the real "old guard hero" types usually come up because of relationships to current PCs.

 

Ultraman & Lady White: Two of the most prominent American heroes in the '60s and '70s were created as the parents of long time PC Vector.

 

Phantomhawk: When created as a current PC, liked the idea of being a descendent of the original... so I introduced two past Phantomhawks... one a WWII mystery man, and the other a secret agent during the '60s.

 

Crusader: The original from 1st Edition Champions... I kept him as '70s and early 80's vigilante who grew old, retired, and passed on the mantle to an up and coming PC who had a similar origin story... updated power set just like the original Crusader... but none of it done intentionally by the player. When Crusader offered the mantle to the PC, he was overcome with the sense of history are really got into a whole new level of role playing with his PC, formerly called Intercept.

 

Sentinels of Justice: The greatest part about having a campaign that has run for 16 years, is that original PCs have BECOME the old guard. The original team of heroes created back in 1987 is no longer played, but has become the NPC group that sets the standard in America (the Champions disappeared years ago).

 

On a similar note:

Just recently, a player wanted a new character, and the discussion led to an old NPC that was created back in 1987. At the time, Bobby Stone was 7 years old and found a magic Godstone that gave him powers. It's now 16 years later, and Robert Stone (with a few significant NPC adventures) has just graduated college, a full fledged adult looking to use his powers to their fullest. That an NPC has gone from child to grown up during the course of the campaign has really brought home a depth to the campaign that is everything I've always wanted the gaming experience to be.

[Enforcer84]

My campaigns all took place back in the late 80's early 90's I had updated the characters to make them viable, but now I think I might want to in my new world make them the last generation of heroes.

[levi]

Re: Character driven...

 

Originally posted by RDU Neil

...The greatest part about having a campaign that has run for 16 years, is that original PCs have BECOME the old guard...

 

We have a similar situation in my group. About ten years ago, we had a team of heroes in San Francisco named the Protectors.

 

Anthem - was like Ultimate Cap, ten years ago. He was created by a German scientist at the start of WWII who saw what the Reich had planned for the world and gave the genetic formula to the Allies. They raised him as the "perfect" soldier and he led the Allies to final victory without using "the bomb". In the decades since, Anthem has fought in every major conflict the world has known, thanks to his enhanced genetics he ages slowly. He retired to become the senator of Montana when the Protectors disbanded.

 

In the current campaign, the West Coast Defenders proect the bay area under the auspices of PRIMUS and their special liazon Anthem. The old man comes in and lectures the whipper-snappers when they get out of line and provides a vehicle for interacting with PRIMUS and the US Gov't when the story requires it or the players request it.

 

This character was always hard to play because he was supposed to have seen it all, he makes a MUCH better NPC.

[Hermit]

This is indeed ironic, I've had a lot of my 4th ED campaigns become "Old guard" as well. My PCs seem to get a kick out of it.

[Patriot]

In Team Vanguard Continuity,

the Original Vanguard was a wwII team, who we met once during a timetravel scenario

and ...May be of some intrest to KS, My Characters father is named Johnny Rocket

[Killer Shrike]

Guess that Johnny Rocket guy gets around

[winterhawk]

My campaign is set in Chicago as per Champions , so the Black Mask has been around since the end of the Civil War. Since my players are all comics fans, the heroes that have come before them are based on established characters:

 

Golden Age: Dr. Atlas (Hourman), The Black Mask (GA Batman), The Human Dynamo (The Human Bomb) & Kid Cyclone (Robin), The Tornado (Wildcat/GA Atom), The Comet (The Flash), Thunderman (DC Captain Marvel) and The Anthem (GA Black Canary).

 

Silver Age: Doc Atomic (Superman, Reed Richards, Captain Atom), Tornado II (Robin, Nightwing), The Anthem II (SA Black Canary), The Huntsman and Arrow (Green Arrow & Speedy), Thunderman II and Thundergal (Captain Marvel & Mary Marvel),

Shooting Star (Kid Flash), The Sting (Spider-Man), The Nightwraith (SA Batman), Horus (Thor), Black Hercules (Luke Cage), Nightmare (Ghost Rider), Wildfire (Starfire), Sparrowhawk (Apache Chief, Dawnstar from LSH), Dynaman (Ironman), and Bigfoot (The Beast).

[Storn]

Re: Character driven...

 

Originally posted by RDU Neil

 

Ultraman & Lady White: Two of the most prominent American heroes in the '60s and '70s were created as the parents of long time PC Vector.

 

 

Vector has been around long enuff, seen enuff, done enuff... in his mind, he feels *very* old guard. It ain't the years, its the mileage.

[RDU Neil]

Re: Re: Character driven...

 

Originally posted by Storn

Vector has been around long enuff, seen enuff, done enuff... in his mind, he feels *very* old guard. It ain't the years, its the mileage.

 

Yeah, but Vector's dad still has the best NPC quote I've ever had, IMO.

 

"Son... in my day, the guy with a skull mask who said he talked to dead people was the BAD guy."

 

Ultra Man to Geist (new PC also played by Storn) not long before Geist killed 20,000 people.

[GenreFiend]

I am SOOOOOO jealous!

 

of you guys who have your players create the Old Guard by putting them in to their characters' backgrounds! And especially y'all who are actually able to run a campaign long enough for former PCs to become the "Old Guard." How do you find people willing to stick to one campaign long enough to do that? And why am I the only one around here who ever wants their character to have a legacy behind them?

[Hermit]

Legacy heroes are some of my favorites as well Genrefiend

[Blue]

Since I am GMing and not playing, I made my character Uncle Slam as a veteran hero whose seen it all. He hugely disillusioned with the world, but has become a consultant on crime for the government. There are so many hero PCs in the game that I never need to actually have him fight. He's just there for them to talk to and ask questions. He's yoda/ben kenobi.

 

There is also Paragon, who has not reared his head yet, but is coming soon, assuming that the players continue doing what they are doing. He's by far the most powerful hero in the campaign and will likely assist in some kind of showdown with the campaign's big-bad; trouble will be not having him steal the show, but I've got a few ideas on how to do this.

 

The other NPC heroes are pretty much on par with the PCs.

[lemming]

In my current campaign I've got an old guard worked into the background, but no interaction between them and the players has happenned yet. Most of the old guard being considered the veterans of WWII that are still around. Then there are the "retired" villians that are around as well. Some of course just want to be left alone, others may decide to test out these newbies.

Hmm, another area where I see my procrastination is getting in the way.

A couple of these will probably be introduced soonish.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by lemming

In my current campaign I've got an old guard worked into the background, but no interaction between them and the players has happenned yet. Most of the old guard being considered the veterans of WWII that are still around. Then there are the "retired" villians that are around as well. Some of course just want to be left alone, others may decide to test out these newbies.

Hmm, another area where I see my procrastination is getting in the way.

A couple of these will probably be introduced soonish.

 

Heh... one of my favorite legacy origins is the one where "mom" "dad" or "Granddad" was a supervillain, but then reformed, retired etc. Then their off spring nearly dies of shock when they find out their 'evil roots' and decide to make amends for it.

[RDU Neil]

Re: I am SOOOOOO jealous!

 

Originally posted by GenreFiend

of you guys who have your players create the Old Guard by putting them in to their characters' backgrounds! And especially y'all who are actually able to run a campaign long enough for former PCs to become the "Old Guard." How do you find people willing to stick to one campaign long enough to do that? And why am I the only one around here who ever wants their character to have a legacy behind them?

 

The secret to a long campaign is that it is a "meta-campaign."

 

The Red Dragon Universe is like the Marvel or DC Universe (only much better ) There are hundreds of characters and dozens of "comics" that tell different stories in different parts of the world. Players don't play the same PC every game session, every week.

 

Storn joined RDU in 1992, w'Vector. Vector has semi-retired twice, been lost in time, etc. During those absences, Storn played other characters in different sub-campaigns... but eventually, the V man showed up again. Storn has probably 20 PCs over the last 11 years... some only played once or twice. A couple quite deceased.

 

Down time for characters is essential. Unlike comics that HAVE to have an adventure once a month to sell an issue... it is more realistic to have PCs who have weeks, months... even years go by without a significant "adventure worthy" event happen. During these down times, ideas percolate, and a stale character gains new freshness. They come back older, with a wife and kid and a new outlook on the hero business or whatever.

 

This kind of meta-campaign allows a freshness of game style, too. With a superhero world, it is very easy to have almost any "genre" show up. We have a lot of "wild martial arts" or "gritty guns and crime" or "mystic otherworldliness" type games... all happening within the same world as the very political and high level metahuman affairs that Vector deals with. Characters that are nothing more than well trained agents exist in the same world as Omega class earth breakers. They likely never meet... but it gives the players a sense of a larger context... a more complete existence... an definitely adds to the longevity of the overall campaign.

[Enforcer84]

Oh sure, you make it sound so easy...

[RDU Neil]

Originally posted by Enforcer84

Oh sure, you make it sound so easy...

 

Easy?

 

I didn't say easy.

 

No f*cking way has it been easy.

 

Fun, though.

[Patriot]

My Campaign Has Been on going for 12.5 years now...sadly I am The Only original member who shows up regularly

[Sketchpad]

Gotta agree with Neil here It is fun! I recently have been compiling notes from my campiagn world, which has been going on for about 15 years now ... and has seen MANY game systems ... at one point, we had all the characters for every supers game statted out for each game ... just in case we wanted to change games or play in someone elses universe (we had occasionally cross overs with DC and Marvel in the early 90s ).

[MoonHunter]

Two campaigns

 

My Traditional Campaign. It was based on published heroes, where everyone entered the chronology when they first appeared and aged normally for their species (no duplicate characters and historical fiat).

 

There was a "Secret Wars" like event in 1982. Dr. Strange cast a spell of forgetfulness about the issue and the heroes that caused it. Thus people remembered there being superheroes but seem not to care that they are not around at the moment. A new Heroic Age began with their children and the new crop of mutants and mutates. When the super aspect restarted, we had Batman IV (the Robin of the BatmanIII Batman/Catwoman's son), Tony Stark did a Cameo in his wheel chair, and Namor's Atlantis finally became a member of the United Nations. Shield (UNTIL) and Hydra (VIPER) were still at it. Nick Fury was still alive, though he was a LMD.

 

Our new GreenLantern was just a member of the Corp

 

We had "GrandFather". Shugenja of the WWII Nipponese Super Team Tsunami. (He walked away from Nagasaki Ground Zero). His Granddaughter was a martial artist/ empath named Azure. He was also still wanted for his war crimes.

 

Players had the option of pulling from the past, but most opted for a clean break.

 

 

Outsiders

This campaign was based on the notion that paranormals had been around since the begining of humanity. They served as the basis for myth and folklore. Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Sorcereers, Immortals, and current Psionics were all 75+75 plus eps characters. Their culture was that of hiding themselves among the humans and protecting the secret of their existance. There numbers were growing, as the number of humans with "Talent" were increasing.

 

Over the previous 2 decades, Metas began to occur. Paranormals of unhead of powers. 100+150 characters, some without a traditional phenotype (He's a werelightning bolt... yah right). Now there were a few dozen out there... and keeping the secret was becoming harder because they were not recognizable types, so they could not be found before they manifested their powers.

 

One meta decided to out himself. Dressing up like a superhero he performed public deeds. He called for heroes to protect the Earth from upcoming threats. He died alone facing off vs a monster horde on international TV. A few metas and stronger paranormals decided to become the Guardians he called for.

 

We had characters with back histories running 500 years. The Old guard were the Powerful Elders who where not used to all this public galavanting about.

[GenreFiend]

Originally posted by Hermit

Legacy heroes are some of my favorites as well Genrefiend

Yeah, but when I said "around here," I meant "in Western North Carolina." Not "on these boards."