Are there Aliens in your campaign universe?

[clsage]

Are there more the one race?

 

Is there a "Green Lantern Corps" like organization?

 

How are they aliens different then humans?

 

Has there been an invasion of Earth?

 

While my most recently run campaign ('Team: Norfolk') never got to that point, the 'universe' that I have been working on for some years now (which owes much to the Wold Newton universe) does include some alien species: for example, the Golden Age hero Kandor (my Kal-El analog) was an alien and the ship in which he arrived on Earth is displayed in a gallery at the American Museum of Natural History. Additionally his compatriot in The Guardians Of Liberty, Hippolyta, is a member of a non-terrestrial species (though her people keep that fact buried, in part due to them having come to Earth as part of a cultural schism - most of humanity supposes that she and her sisters are somehow holdovers from the era of ancient Greek heroes.)

 

As for invasions? Well, they would perhaps be better called 'incursions' as the species involved never gained any real footholds and were soon defeated (eg: the assault by the Tripod creatures circa 1890, various events involving Group 1 of the United Nations Global Defense Directorate circa 1970 (or 1980, depending on how you research it), etc). Currently much of humanity write those events off as 'disguised super-villain plots', rather than viewing them as truly alien events.

 

There are other species out there but, as my planning reaches across genres and was, truth be told, initially created as 'backstory' for my long hoped for Star Hero campaign ('The Comsentient Alliance') most of them will not be encountering humanity in any numbers for a few decades.

 

-Carl-

[GhostDancer]

For KK and those who must be obeyed - 

[TheQuestionMan]

Yes, I use the Official Champions Universe Aliens in my campaigns, but oddly none of my players have selected one. I have created a Star Marshal of the Star Guard, but he was a human Deputy.

 

Cheers

 

QM 

[megaplayboy]

Comic book superhero universes being a mishmash of science fiction, science fantasy, high fantasy, pulp, martial arts, horror, etc., I think it's perfectly natural to have aliens in a setting. In my setting the solar system is home to several stable wormholes to other parts of the galaxy, and other galaxies, making the Earth a key trade route. After a foiled alien invasion, a deal was struck, permitting passage through the wormholes, in exchange for a toll. Over the course of time, human civilization will become filthy rich from this. It's not without its drawbacks, however...

 

There are a few different heroic alien groups and organizations, some of which may resemble the GLC in some respects(in one of them, everyone has a similar cosmic powered weapon that can do almost anything).

[Vondy]

Once something becomes a mish-mash it ceases to be a question of logic and becomes a question of verisimilitude and aesthetic tastes.Not all of the genres that have become a part of the standard superhero universe actually work together and you have to just sort of suspend disbelief and go for it. This can also come up with themes that have concepts that don't necessarily conflict.

 

For instance, the way normal super-heroes vs. mutants and dealt with in the marvel universe was, originally, completely discordant. The X-Verse as a stand-alone universe is more coherent and keeps its key themes from being diluted. The other classic example is power-levels in solo titles vs. team titles. Batman in Gotham is Batman. To roll with the Justice League he becomes Batgod. He also gets a power-up whenever other JLA members make guest appearances in his solo-title.

 

This is because, originally, the heroes weren't all operating one big universe. That came later -- and the way they were meshed together was often nonsensical. I admire the creativity of "wouldn't it be cool," but syncretism can only be taken so far before it strains credulity. Its decades of fan criticism that has caused comic writers and companies to give a nod to the nonsensical nature of their "universes." In the end, only so much can be blended well.

 

For me, I like solo titles, and universes using coherent origins and themes. It provides narrower, more unified theme for logistical and story purposes -- but have played in and enjoyed super-cholent* settings. Just do me a favor -- don't throw "logical" out there when describing them.

 

*Cholent is a slow-cook stew set on the stove by Ashkenazi Jews before the sabbath comes in on Friday night intended to be eaten for lunch on Saturday. While always well done, it is seldom done well.