MisterVimes Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 I am starting a Golden Age Champions/Pulp fusion game that hill hit somewhere between Planetary/Hellboy and Indiana Jones/Doc Savage. I essentially want all the feel of the pulps and golden age with some of the grit/realism of Indian Jones (or Planetary). For example: Racism will be real and present, but the "Yellow Peril" will be fully formed, believable human beings that just happen to be Asian. I hope you get where I am coming from. The group will be like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in that they will be solo heroes that gather together for major threats (which will let me jump from the late 1920s to the 1940s without it taking 20 years to play). This is what I need: Phantom analogue - Multiple generational hero. The original hero was an officer on a ship that was hit by pirates in the Atlantic. The working name is Crison Wraith. I need a better name. I also want twin legacy heroes in the civil war. One north and the other south. They need two names that dovetail off of the original name. Lone Ranger analogue - Pinkerton Agent that is 'raised from the dead' by Indians. Phantom Rider is what I have. Give me a better name. The Bureau - This is my working name for the Hero team. Justice Bureau, something like that. Help me out here. Help me with your mighty brains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concord Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name Phantom the dinosaur of words suggests the following of as synonyms for phantom - apparition, chimera, daydream, delusion, dream, eidolon, figment, ghost, hallucination, haunt, ignis fatuus, illusion, mirage, nightmare, phantasm, revenant, shade, shadow, specter, spirit, spook, vision, wraith I am partial to Revenant... with Specter a close second... go with Blue and Gray with the respective name for the Civil War brothers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted April 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name Phantom the dinosaur of words suggests the following of as synonyms for phantom - apparition, chimera, daydream, delusion, dream, eidolon, figment, ghost, hallucination, haunt, ignis fatuus, illusion, mirage, nightmare, phantasm, revenant, shade, shadow, specter, spirit, spook, vision, wraith I am partial to Revenant... with Specter a close second... go with Blue and Gray with the respective name for the Civil War brothers... Blue Specter and Gray Specter. That could work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name Lone Ranger analogue - Pinkerton Agent that is 'raised from the dead' by Indians. Phantom Rider is what I have. Give me a better name. Phantom Rider's a perfectly good one; it's just been copped by Marvel for their various (and failed, IMO) takes on the Western Ghost Rider. (I believe there's a Republic serial with that title as well) The Pale Rider works pretty well for a "resurrected" style Western hero, if you don't mind cribbing from the Eastwood film. If he's more straightforward crimefighter than Weird Western, then something like The Masked Marshal, Spectral Sheriff, Haunted Hunter might do. You might also find something interesting based on the lore of the Indians that did the resurrecting. A phrase I recall from the poem "Hiawatha" was Black-Robed Chief, which I think referred to a Bishop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name Phantom Rider's a perfectly good one; it's just been copped by Marvel for their various (and failed, IMO) takes on the Western Ghost Rider. (I believe there's a Republic serial with that title as well) The Pale Rider works pretty well for a "resurrected" style Western hero, if you don't mind cribbing from the Eastwood film. If he's more straightforward crimefighter than Weird Western, then something like The Masked Marshal, Spectral Sheriff, Haunted Hunter might do. You might also find something interesting based on the lore of the Indians that did the resurrecting. A phrase I recall from the poem "Hiawatha" was Black-Robed Chief, which I think referred to a Bishop. I'd forgotten that the original Ghost Rider was renamed the Phantom Rider for the reprints/time travel/retro-cowboy action. Pale Rider actually works very nicely. I'm thinking a Pinkerton 'uniform' of black longcoats and suits with a white mask. Good call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name I'd forgotten that the original Ghost Rider was renamed the Phantom Rider for the reprints/time travel/retro-cowboy action. Pale Rider actually works very nicely. I'm thinking a Pinkerton 'uniform' of black longcoats and suits with a white mask. Good call. Thanks. Funny bit of trivia: Before they settled on Phantom Rider for the character, they went with Night Rider. Which sounds fine, until you find out that the KKK used that also. And, well, there's the matter of that all-white costume... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name Thanks. Funny bit of trivia: Before they settled on Phantom Rider for the character, they went with Night Rider. Which sounds fine, until you find out that the KKK used that also. And, well, there's the matter of that all-white costume... THAT WAS IT! I thought it was something else. Night Rider. Yes, a very poor choice for a white suited masked man riding the plains in post civil war America Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name I was also somewhat inspired by the Dead Ranger (a darker Lone Ranger pastiche) from the pages of Planetary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name Yeah, the Ranger in Planetary was crazy awesome. And crazy. Related to their Spider analogue if I recall correctly. Seems to me that Night Rider might make a good villain name for the reasons discussed above. Heck, if race will be an issue, I'd love to see someone use the name "White Devil". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name Yeah, the Ranger in Planetary was crazy awesome. And crazy. Related to their Spider analogue if I recall correctly. Seems to me that Night Rider might make a good villain name for the reasons discussed above. Heck, if race will be an issue, I'd love to see someone use the name "White Devil". John (Dead Ranger) Leather was the father of Bret (The Spider) Leather. Clearly a shout out to the Lone Ranger/Green Hornet connection (as well and the Spider/Shadow). On a personal note, on two separate occasions been called Kwai Lo (White Devil) and singled out one as "the white devil) by a crazy street preacher. In each case I was merely in the vicinity and did nothing to warrant the appellation. To this day I have many friends and co-workers that will call me the White Devil in jest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name On a personal note' date=' on two separate occasions been called Kwai Lo (White Devil) and singled out one as "the white devil) by a crazy street preacher. In each case I was merely in the vicinity and did nothing to warrant the appellation. To this day I have many friends and co-workers that will call me the White Devil in jest [/quote'] Well, that does it. It's practically preordained that not only do you use it, but that he's responsible for so much behind the scenes evil, like a Master Villain, or a GM.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name The Bureau - This is my working name for the Hero team. Justice Bureau, something like that. Help me out here. Help me with your mighty brains. This is stupid, but I'm sharing it anyway: Given that they only get together for the major threats, given that I believe you said they were "names" as solo heroes, and given the popularity of baseball in the time period, I toss out: The Big League. You may toss it out as well. That said, any name that I would normally use for a team seems off as this seems more like an occasional grouping. Maybe something with the word Alliance in it would be suitable. I like the sound of The Chancery Alliance but I doubt many people would know what it meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterVimes Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Re: GAC/Pulp Hero/Villain names and a team name I suddenly had a flashback to "Johnny Dangerously" when Jock Dundee proclaims his mob as the New York Yankees of Crime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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