Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

[Chuckg]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

One of my proposed solutions was simply to set the campaign in the 80s or early 90s, but use modern Internet-era tech level as a general thing (i.e., putting the tech curve 20-30 years ahead of schedule). Thus taking into account the superheroic march of progress, even presuming that energy weapons, force fields, and etc. remain cost-ineffective for general use.

 

Of course, the "cost-ineffective" dodge doesn't work for those applications where cost-effectiveness takes a second place to throw weight, so, you still have to explain where the DoD is putting the mecha suits (albeit Turtle Armor level mecha suits) and the lightning cannons. 'They have a few hundred, arming one special high-tech battalion, doing a long-term troop test as regards their viability' is a solution that Champs 5e came up with, and I'm cool with that.

 

Granted, one downside of using the 80s is that you still have the Soviet Union and the Cold War to deal with... wait, how is that a downside? Its practically a perpetual plot generator.

[Nuclear Fridge]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

....My wife and I are from Nebraska.........

Apologies, wick. I picked Nebraska out of the air. Could just as easily have been New Mexico, New England, or Nevada.

 

But if the local police dept. has a demonstrable need for blasters (and the NYPD doesn't), what exactly is going on in that town...?

[lapsedgamer]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

If I were an altruistic gadgeteer/inventor in that campaign and I found out this guy was the reason I couldn't use my know-how to reduce world hunger' date=' poverty and disease, I'd probably never stop punching him in the face.[/quote']

 

If you haven't, read Planetary. The storyline is a lot like this, and the bad guys get handled in the end, so you you might get some vicarious enjoyment out of it. Plus, they finally finished the story line after like ten years, with a lot of delays in between. You won't have to suffer through the waiting for new issues to come out thing like I did.

 

Apologies, wick. I picked Nebraska out of the air. Could just as easily have been New Mexico, New England, or Nevada.

 

But if the local police dept. has a demonstrable need for blasters (and the NYPD doesn't), what exactly is going on in that town...?

 

I don't think any local municipality or state government would have that level of tech unless it was ubiquitous. The cost would be prohibitive. I could see the feds (PRIMUS or whatever) having it and the cities having to ask for assistance from them. Of course, this would rarely arrive in time to be of use, so the heroes would be left to deal with the issues.

[JmOz]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

I think cities with high metacrime would start to use blasters, especialy after they confiscate so many of them, for special units (Similar to the SWAT team)

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

I think cities with high metacrime would start to use blasters' date=' especialy after they confiscate so many of them, for special units (Similar to the SWAT team)[/quote']

Basically like the MARS units in Champions?

[JmOz]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

thank you, could not remember what they were called

[lemming]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

I could see Vegas casino security having high tech, though I think they'd let the criminal get away and have the means to track them. Don't want to damage their own stuff.

[Markdoc]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

Of course' date=' sometimes idiot artist fail to get the point - I understand that every so often Dust, an Afghani girl on the New Mutants who wears a Burqa, is drawn with the Burqa being rather form-fitting.[/quote']

 

Actually something like that already exists: it's called a "Burqini" - I kid you not.

 

cheers, Mark

[Markdoc]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

No' date=' the actual playing group was in the mid-central region of IL (Decatur to be exact...). The name "Team Norfolk" derives from the fact that the characters in the campaign all begin their activities in and around Norfolk, VA. Long story short, I had some inspiration(s) a few years back while working in Norfolk and, when the opportunity to run a campaign arose I combined them with some other concepts from the back burners of my brain and voila' the scenario came to be. I suppose that I should actually call the group "Team Corona" since that ties into the organization which was responsible for their powers[/quote']

 

They were assembled by a beer company?

 

cheers, Mark

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

They were assembled by a beer company?

 

Supergroups have been assembled out of much worse, I'm certain.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

Of course' date=' sometimes idiot artist fail to get the point - I understand that every so often Dust, an Afghani girl on the New Mutants who wears a Burqa, is drawn with the Burqa being rather form-fitting.[/quote']

 

Actually something like that already exists: it's called a "Burqini" - I kid you not.

 

cheers, Mark

 

Yes, but the character being referred to is a strict observer who even wears a veil. She would probably think these women were harlots. Yet she's still drawn with form fitting clothes...

[dmjalund]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

They were assembled by a beer company?

Duffman™ says Hi

[AnotherSkip]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

I'll do the rest one at a time as they occur to me:

 

6. Rampant exhibitionism. People with beyond-perfect physiques running around in skin-tight/sheer/body-hugging costumes, that in the case of female heroes are barely there. This isn't necessarily an insupportable premise, but that a bunch of people run around in these outfits and generally don't spend significant amounts of time staring at each other, and that non-supers also generally don't gawk for all that much time either, is a bit much. I would go into the whole supers-rarely-get-sexually-assaulted-after-being-KOed, but I do think there's a supportable premise for that, based on my point about the Iron Age above--nobody really wants to go there much, because retaliation would be...severe. But it is still just a tad insupportable to put people in costumes that would qualify them as exhibitionists in the real world, and have the public reaction be muted compared to what it might be in the real world if a taller, bustier Megan Fox walked down the street dressed like a patriotic hooker.

 

Uh IIRC some reasonably attractive female singer was walking down the streets of Dallas... NAKED and she hasn't even been charged yet for public nudity and at most might face a charge of filming without a permit. in part because there hasn't been one complaint about her behavior. yes the whole thing was for a video but still man... if thath doesnt point to our society being more rational than many have supposed.....

[AnotherSkip]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

For my campaign I am thinking that there is a Secret society of powerful individuals that want to keep tech on a leash. They know that they cannot and perhaps should not stop all progress they just don't want Tech to leap beyond our civilization to deal with or thatd shift the balance of power. They are not always successful or else there would not be any Mechanon type villians , note that his existence is a strong argument in favor of controlling technical revolutions. They may monitor any new tech based heroes and villians and take measures to limit the impact of the tech on the world. A TonyStark type making a powered suit is one thing, him mass procuding lesser versions for wide scale military use is quite another. This organization is wealthy enough to buy patents for tech and seal them in a vault if or when it is deemed ok to release into the world. Or buying out corporations/ bankrupting them. Influential enough to make supertech disapear from military warehouses and forgotten. They may even have some super powered agents to do missions and enforce their will. Probably the biggest hurdle would be to keep this organization on the right track meaning their has to be a powerful leader that is also benevolent and wants to use the tech only for good.

 

I am thinking the leader is a time traveler from the future who is also long lived/immortal he knows that in the late 20th/early 21 century many new technologies were release upon the Earth without restraint and the Earth paid the price horribly. Despite his worry over tech destroying the world and even time itself he has made the trip to the past with the intent on changing the future, possibly creating paradoxes and certainly destroying his own alternate timeline. Perhaps his tampering with the timeline has created it's own problems such as an increase in the number of super powered people which may be as bad or worse than the technology rushed that doomed his own reality..only time will tell. He has since destroyed his own time machine to prevent the temptation to retroactively cange the timeline even further and possibly make matters worse.

 

By the way, you mentioned a Team Norfolk ? Is this campaign played in Norfolk, VA perhaps?

 

I am working on a campaign wherein all of superheros and supervillians are being given super tech as part of a plot by aliens to destroy they earth while still leaving it viable. all the heroes and villians are trying to find a way to survive (the aliens choose poor people close to financial ruin in order to have them likely to be willing to fuck over the planet and in supreme arrogance tell everyone involved (in groups of 30 peopel or so at a time) as a way to crank up the pressure of knowing that "if i dont tell soon somone else will and they will profit from it" thus the scientific geniuses CAN'T just release tech willy nilly because it could destroy the planet. And everyone wants to keep anyone from reverse engineering stuff or giving it to the government. If anyone want i can look up the short story it is based upon. Very Cool story found in a SCi Fi anthology....

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

Plus' date=' while I can see that happening in the Ultimate universe, because superheroes are brand new, in the Marvel and DC universe where masked crimefighters have been around for up to 90 years, depending on what current continuity says, I'd think there'd be something worked out as a reliable way for masked heroes to testify. After all, confidential informants and undercover officers do it.[/quote']

 

Actually, this has been shown in the DC Universe. It was a three-part crossover with Green Lantern, Flash, and Green Arrow. I can't remember the issue numbers or the title, but the story was that the three were on an Alaskan cruise together when Sonar and Polaris (IIRC) attacked the ship. The story was bookended by the courtroom scene, in which it wass established that superheroes in good standing (such as members of the JLA) were allowed to testify under their masked identities.

[Burrito Boy]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

Apologies, wick. I picked Nebraska out of the air. Could just as easily have been New Mexico, New England, or Nevada.

 

But if the local police dept. has a demonstrable need for blasters (and the NYPD doesn't), what exactly is going on in that town...?

 

I was born in Nevada, grew up in New Mexico, and currently live in New England. Really, how insensitive can you be?

[Nuclear Fridge]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

I live in a country which is just about the last dependency of a former world power. Said world power does not have a guarantee of free speech; I cannot express my opinion without leaving myself open to be called a racist, a fascist, or just plain stupid.

In the past, people from that country have cheerfully accused me of genetic inferiority, congenital idiocy, and of animal molestation - based on no more solid evidence than they live on the 'upscale' side of the border, and on my bloodline, surname, and accent. And I am supposed to nod, smile, and swallow it.

 

So I am not trying to be insensitive or insulting here, Burrito Boy.

[Burrito Boy]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

I live in a country which is just about the last dependency of a former world power. Said world power does not have a guarantee of free speech; I cannot express my opinion without leaving myself open to be called a racist, a fascist, or just plain stupid.

In the past, people from that country have cheerfully accused me of genetic inferiority, congenital idiocy, and of animal molestation - based on no more solid evidence than they live on the 'upscale' side of the border, and on my bloodline, surname, and accent. And I am supposed to nod, smile, and swallow it.

 

So I am not trying to be insensitive or insulting here, Burrito Boy.

 

I know you're not trying to be insensitive or insulting. And although I really was born in Nevada, etc., I was just trying to be goofy. Hence the "tongue sticky outy guy". (Really wish I could remember who I got that term from.) I'm sorry if I upset you.

[Nuclear Fridge]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

Ah heck, Burrito, no harm done. Sorry if I snapped.

I just get a bit tired of having to keep my mouth shut while certain people I work with seem to have carte blanche to upset & insult people.

[dmjalund]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

free speech means anyone at anytime can call you racist, fascist or stupid - without cause

[Greywind]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

Actually, they can't. It falls under slander.

[dmjalund]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

but making it slander is LESS free than not - so in a country where they CAN is theoretically more free than where they can't

[Mister E]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

but making it slander is LESS free than not - so in a country where they CAN is theoretically more free than where they can't

 

More autonomy to call people names = Less liberty from being called names

[dmjalund]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

sounds like "Frredom from choice" type arguments

[wick]

Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes

 

I was born in Nevada' date=' grew up in New Mexico, and currently live in New England. Really, how insensitive can you be? [/quote']

 

It's cool, I just do a double take when anyone mentions my home state becuase you don't often hear it when you are out of state like me. Sorta like when you see a license plate from your home state and you look to see if you know the driver...which is improbable and kinda silly. No offense was really taken, Nebraska does have some very rural areas.

 

Insupportable premises: how about physics? I am not talking about high level physics I am talking basic laws of physics. If super dense/heavy guy jumps off a building to catch someone who just fell he will never catch up to the falling person regardless of the relative weights.