McManus

Re: Elseworlds

Are you looking for Elseworlds where the players will play characters from within the world and you are looking at how familiar characters would be different (or similar) in different environments? Or are you looking at alternate worlds where the PCs will travel from one to another having adventures in the world of the week?

DC's Elseworlds seem more about self contained worlds rather than travel between them. Marvels Exiles is all about world hopping, often worlds that have been glimpsed in What If storylines.

Re: What if: Japan won World War 2?

Cool stuff. A lot of this will work in Seacouver. The city might even have an area that has a lot of Japanese culture in it.

My understanding is that Seattle and Vancouver already have large Japanese communities. You might start looking there.

Re: What were the best Marvel titles of the 70's?

Speaking of Marvel Two-In One, does anyone remeber this gem.

That is the best of them all...one of the all time great comics from my memory.

Re: writers block

Read source materials...comics, fantasy, scifi, whatever. I can't do that without thinking of characters.

Re: Would Marvel/DC Sue?

My understanding . . . names cannot be copyrighted. Names can be trademarked but the protection is limited. Wolverine, for example is trademarked as a comicbook/movie character with a particular associated image. Wolverine boots and the UofM Wolverines are both different trademarks. As long as there is no danger of confusion between the trademarks in consumers eyes then they can co-exist. Trademarks have to be proactively protected or they can be lost. Aspirin was once a trademark, now it is a generic term.

There is a danger of trademark infringement between a fictional super and a real super trying to use his name/image form marketing/public relations purposes. I imagine the comic company might well feel obligated to file suit as a protection measure. How the court would decide is another matter and president would likely be set by the first big case.

I am not a lawyer.

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

Got to team with Gojira last night...Lots of fun for some starter heroes...Thanks.

 

@ pukha - Look me up in game some time I am on most servers and have characters ranging from 1-50.

And now Hero Gojira is no longer on my Global friends list...Me am sad....

Perhaps he didn't have as much fun as I did...

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

Got to team with Gojira last night...Lots of fun for some starter heroes...Thanks.

@ pukha - Look me up in game some time I am on most servers and have characters ranging from 1-50.

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

I think there are difficulties when the resolution is set to anything different than your desktop resolution. I have it running on a 42" HDTV at 1260x790 at highest quality graphics and it looks incredible. Keep playing with settings until you find what works best. I think it is worth it.

Re: Are all the good names really taken?

His newest Secret ID is a high school or college English professor and he was inspired by his reading. His nom de guerre is Longfellow! Or he is a Folklorist and he goes for Paul Bunyan.

Re: Paging Dr. Mid-Nite!

All the original JSA mystery men were brawlers of a sort. Doc Midnite was a bit more of a scientific fighter than say Hourman or Wildcat, but the real martial artist of the group was Mr. Terrific. IIRC. Give him a nerve strike and a martial dodge and some CSLs to make up the rest.

Re: Paging Dr. Mid-Nite!

What is he other than a Medical Doctor with night vision, blackout bombs, and a pet owl? Seems like he would be pretty easy. Or am I missing something?

Re: How to start a War

Judge: Tribunal, Tribune, Consul, Praetor, Quaestor, (gotta love Roman names for gravitas), Magistrate, Archon, or look up something similar from another historical culture (Persian or Chinese have the most historical umph).

If you want a classical or mythic subtext to the tech aliens (which their history of playing pseudo gods seems to support) name them after one of the more obscure Trickster gods.

Re: "Faulty" Power

How about including other sense flashes in the "opps pool". Flash v. smell, taste or touch as possible wrong targets.

Re: Hulk vs Superman

As for that strength' date=' DC has said she was second only to Superman for years... of course, they have said the same thing about Captain Marvel. But remember, Wonder Woman and Superman both got rebooted post Crisis. Supes wasn't pushing around planets anymore when they started drawing that comparison. [/quote']

 

 

Given that they both (in the old days) had the strength of Hercules and the speed of Mercury, I always thought it made sense that they were equals and therefore could both be strongest, save Superman. I always wondered where Martian Manhunter fit in that scale (as well as CMJ, Mary Marvel, Supergirl and Power Girl).

Re: Where have all the Superheroes gone?

On a positive note, I think the success of the "Heroes" TV series is a fascinating example of how superheroes have really entered the mainstream (the recent spate of not-bad superhero movies also shows this). It's a prime-time, successful dramatic series about people with superpowers (successful enough to have been revews for at least one more season, anyway). That hasn't happened much, if ever, on TV ("Wonder Woman" tried occasionally, and "Incredible Hulk" really only used the Hulk as a plot device/special effect and little else).

 

I think it's also very much worth noting that nobody in Heroes wears a costume - it's very much about "normal" people, who have (mostly) "normal" problems, who also have to deal with these weird powers. The fact that there's no spandex cuts way down on the silliness of traditional comics; their willingness to address issues from drug abuse to government coverups and everything else allows the audience to take the characters seriously. The fact that some of the most heroic characters have no powers also helps, IMO.

 

So there is definitely a place for heroes, even superheroes, in the public imagination, even beyond the comics/sci-fi/fantasy subculture. I don't know how much place there is for the good old spandex-and-cape crowd; some movies are making it work, though. The real issue is that it has to be done well, and the story has to be allowed to take itself seriously, at least within genre. If the material (and the people involved) can't show respect for itself, the project is doomed. And it's hard to steer that course when dealing with people in outlandish costumes whose primary occupation is beating on other people in outlandish costumes.

This brings up an interesting question … what makes a super hero.

Successful TV shows about people with superpowers, or powers beyond the norm, have been around for quite some time.

To name a few –

Adventures of Superman 1952-58

My Favorite Martian 1963-66

Bewitched 1964-72

I Dream of Jeannie 1965-70

Batman 1966-68

The Six Million Dollar Man 1974-78

Wonder Woman 1975-79

The Amazing Spider-Man 1976-1979

The Incredible Hulk 1978-82

The Greatest American Hero 1981-83

The Adventures of Superboy 1988–1992

The Flash 1990-91

Lois & Clark 1993-97

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1997-2003

Mutant X 2001-2004

Smallville 2001-200?

Heroes 2006-20??

There have been superpowered folk on TV almost since it's inception. I agree that it is nice to see them do well, but it is not new.

Re: Go home, Superman!

It makes me sad that 'big bad and super good are the same guy' doesn't seem to be getting much love. Am I that far out there?

It doesn't fit if you are using the actual iconic characters. Other than that it is pretty interesting. I think they used it for the new Marvel powerhouse Sentry. But I didn't read it.

Re: Would you like some sub-plots with that?

So how many points will a character be built upon? In a standard Champions game a character is 200 base points + 150 in disads. If you have the same base are you saying your characters will be built on 250pts but they have to spend points on sub-plots, if they want them. So MightyMite has 200pts of stats, powers, and skills, and spend the other 50 points on sub-plots . This makes him much weaker (and not much more interesting) than the standard hero with Disads. On the other hand, if you give them a 350 point base they can be as powerful as standard heroes, with none of the pesky weaknesses or vulnerabilities.

I am not sure I understand the advantage over the current standard.

Re: What is a name?

Fair enough...Doesn't need to be a contest.

On with Ex Libris...

Re: Getting the heroes together (the first time)

As a GM' date=' I usually want my heroes to be driven by Silver Age principles (though their powers can reflect any era) and, in order to enforce that little home rule, I recently created an inaugural scenario that involved a tragedy. [/quote']

 

And to instill the seriousness of it you could include a NPC, established as a legacy hero, who gives up his life heroically to help avert the disaster, giving the PCs a legend to live up to.

"tis not hand nor foot nor any other part that makes a man. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

I want to propose a bit of a contest…along the lines of the alternate DC heroes one from a while back.

One person throws out a name for a hero… preferably a one that is a bit off the wall. The others create a short background/description for the hero. After a day the first person selects the winner and the winner throws out the next name.

First name: Ellipsis

Re: Getting the heroes together (the first time)

My favorite campaign intro was having the PCs all attacked by servants of a timelord bad guy. In his personal timeline' date=' the team they formed has caused him numerous problems, so he came back before they formed to kill them. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that his interference is what caused them to join together in the first place...[/quote']

 

I really like this one. Though it seems to give the players Plot Defense until they have fulfilled their destiny. I can think of some fun ways around that though.

Re: Rope

Connor MacManus: Well' date=' "Name one thing you're gonna need this stupid f***ing rope for."[/quote']

 

Connor MacManus?

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

Thanks...changed it.

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

What I am gathering from the thread there are a few HeroFolks ™ in CoX. Here is the list I have gathered.

Hero Boards Name COX Global Handle Server

Enforcer84 @Ithecles Pinnacle

gojira @Hero Gojira Champion

Dynamo @Thunderfire Champion

lemming @Lemming Justice

James Gillen @HERO 5er Champion

proditor @Proditor Champion or Pinnacle

Catacomb @Ahgasbane Champion

Lunistra @promstar Victory

GreyGuardian @greyguardian

Tim Champion

input.jack @BlackBat

Supreme Serpent @AtomAnt Triumph

@Grey Pilgram Champion

Global Channels:

Hero Boards

Supergroups:

Eurostar (CoV)

the Hero System (Champion - Send tell to @HERO 5er)

Jvstive, Inc. (Pinnacle)

The Scions (Champion)

Anything else out there? I realize that it is the social aspects of the game that make it most interesting.

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

Anyone have any characters on Virtue. That is where my main' date=' Pukha, is (l46 MA/Regen Scrapper). If not where are the majority of hero gamers gaming? Champion? Under what names? Always looking for a good team and I like playing support types (tanks, defenders) best.[/quote']

 

Got Pukha to 50. My global is @pukha. Interested in finding a good supergroup. Characters on most servers.