loraxxx

Re: weird villain concepts

for truly weird villain concepts, you can't beat the japanese....

try browsing a few of the programs listed here:

http://incolor.inetnebr.com/stuart/henshin/

you'll be glad you did....

Re: NPC concept in progress....help needed

there's actually a japanese super-hero called RAINBOWMAN

here's a link to a page about him:

http://incolor.inetnebr.com/stuart/rainbowman/

Re: Player vs. Character

since our champs sessions are pretty short, we tend to leap into the fray, AVENGERS-style, ie letting each character choose their own initial targets and switching as necessary....

more often than not, both groups in both games i play in take their lumps due to lack of planning, but our powers and teamwork generally save the day--still we DO have our own SOP's...

in one game, our biggest successes so far have come from avoiding the brick vs brick, speedster vs speedster, MA vs MA match-ups--instead we let characters take on folks they'll be REALLY effective against.....

which means our dex guy fights non-dex types--or he'll knock down the speedster and let the brick grab him, or team up with our other MA to whittle a brick down....

we'll let our blaster fire her NND at the bad-guy brick from a distance, or let our techno-stretchy-guy attack people's foci, or use his 'increased stun' attack....

our 'genie' can pluck hand grenades out of thin air and start lobbing them or NNd or even Aid--our elementalist uses both entangles and area effects, which can knockdown or tie-up foes, either way allowing for the rest of us to get in a free shot.....

in the other, we tend to dog-pile the forces of villainy--our mentalist can brain blast people, our brick can do 18-20d6 on a move thru, our blaster can power-up his area effect (any) plasma burst and attack several foes at a time, our rocketeer-guy has an NNd ray gun, our gadget guy does stat drains, our dex-guy entangles....

...and when all else fails we have the 'PINK LANTERN' and his bag of TK-trix...

eventually we manage to nickel-and-dime our foes into submission--so i'd have to say TEAMWORK is our hallmark even if planning isn't....

Re: Super humans populations in cities

Genre convention.

ok, that explains why they come to cities, but why do they STAY in the cities after the GENRE CONVENTION is over....??

Re: Super humans populations in cities

Why are there more Gay men per capita in New York and San Francisco than there are in Las Vegas, New Mexico?

 

In Smallville everyone knows everyone by sight. It is sometimes said that in small towns you cannot blow you nose without everyone knowing about it, half the population speculating on the necessity, and the other half critiqueing the style. Distinguishing features really stand out when everybody in town of your same age and sex has showered with you after gym class. Really screws the old Secret ID when literally everyone in town, except you, has been photographed with the new meta-human. Larger cities provide annomnity.

sorry if somebody already mentioned this, but there was an interesting issue of ASTRO CITY dealing with this same topic--a surly kid from the big city goes to farm country for the summer and there she encouters THE ROUSTABOUT--local super-powered-doer-of-good-deeds....

i doesn't take long for her to suss out his secret id and.....

SPOILER

....she realizes that not only does she know who the guy is but almost EVERYBODY does--it's kind of an 'open secret'!!--folks keep his quiet about it out of respect for what he does for the community and to give him some privacy--just like you'll notice IRL when a famous celebrity moves to a small town and doesn't 'put on airs'....

Re: Why does Nighthawk always get depicted getting the crap kicked out of him?

Hey I actually like Nighthawk and have thought about actually playing him someday. Id modify him a bit and I agree that scarring isnt tragic enough for his origin but he works as a Batman rip and he looks damn kewl an the cover of G&G.

ahhh!--so you agree that he has a lousy origin, needs stat enhancement, and only looks good SOME of the time....?

....thank you for your assistance--i rest my case....

Re: Question for you all

IIRC the write up for DAMAGE REDUCTION describes it as a power to simulate those heroes that 'take a licking, and keep on ticking...."

if the character takes a lot of physical abuse, but isn't really hurt, then try 75% resistant DR+a lot of resistant PD/ED, or maybe even just healing/regen--remember you can define "looks more beat up than actually is" as a special effect of the power.....

Re: Ideal Gloating Guffaw?

angry bug said it best--let the character of the villan dictate the laugh--the more real you make the villan seem, the more your players will relate to him/her one way or another....

that said, it's a good general rule is to be as mocking and condescending as possible, and if you know your players have 'buttons,' make sure your villans 'push' them....

i had a GM once let me play a version of my character that was in an illusion set up tp trap the hero--i had that version of my character 'spew' as much 'venom' as possible, because i knew he was speaking from the point of view of someone who HATED the hero....

the guy i was gaming with almost lost it--untill he realized he was being set up--then he enjoyed the opportunity to make the villan 'eat his words....'

Re: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen question

I don't know about the rest of the membership' date=' but [i']I[/i] certainly had not

heard of this story (Odd John, I mean). Please, enlighten me if you

would be so kind as to do so.

 

Major Tom

according to google, ODD JOHN is the first novel about a 'superman' and predates the comicbook character by about 2 years--although in terms of plot, it sounds to be the basis of just about every X-MEN story for the last decade or so.....

ODD JOHN is a mutant--a member of a race known as "homo-superior" (sound familiar?) who discovers he is different from those around him and seeks his purpose in life--he travels the world, has encounters with other 'super-humans', and eventually takes over a south sea island nation, all the while being watched by governments that fear his powers, and the powers of those with him.... (sound REALLY familiar?)

Re: Why does Nighthawk always get depicted getting the crap kicked out of him?

....And for the record' date=' I think I can make Nhawk look cool....[/quote']

 

..which is really more of a testament to your skill as an artist than his strength as a character--hell, you've even managed to make DEFENDER look cool....

 

**loraxxx makes beautiful, one-point testicle dismount**

 

why does nighthawk get the crap beat out of him so much?--mostly, because

 

HE SUCKS!!!!!!

Re: Science of Superheroes

I've just checked out a book called THE SCIENCE OF SUPERHEROES

If by any chance you see this book in a bookstore or a library,check it out, it might give you a laugh or couple of groans.

saw the special on THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL--was not impressed....

Re: Superhero Images

Free Spirit in her original and redone costume.

i believe your character and my character are cousins....

Re: Superhero Images

The Invisible Nun.

 

Well her flesh is invisible and I did not like the name Ghost Nun

.... dropped her original name like a BAD HABIT, did ya....?

Re: Superhero Images

Here's something amusing I found a while back. I don't know the source.

looks like an ERIC LARSEN....

Re: What superhero world concept are you tired of seeing?

Maybe I didn't make myself clear but there's a big difference between other nations publishing their own comics with or withour superheroes, and the way that the Marvel and DC universes are so US-centric.

 

DC and Marvel's approach to other nations' superhumans within their universe just isn't realistic in my opinion (and yes I know that flying men, aliens and men who dress as winged rodents aren't realistic either).

did you read the series of stories DC did about 4-5 years ago featuring super powered heroes from other parts of the world? it introduced the characters in team-ups with the more mainstream DC characters.....

....also, it was revealed in JLA around the same time that for the most part, THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER acts as the "superman of the southern hemisphere," since there are a dearth of paranormals there, and garners a great deal more respect from peoples in that region of the world. i think he even goes so far as to maintain several of his numerous secret id's there as well....

WONDER WOMAN also has taken a more international focus as of late, using her status as amazonian ambassador to the UN to address problems around the world....

it was recently revealed the the original CAPTAIN MARVEL'S semi-reformed foe TETH(BLACK) ADAM was of middle-eastern descent, when he returned to oust a dictatorship in his homeland and ran afoul of the JSA in order to do it....

both SUPERMAN and BATMAN have had to recently deal with conflicts with "capes" from JAPAN, including the most recent incarnation of TOYMAN, a 13 year-old prodigy that builds giant-sized versions of all those cool japanese-import-robot toys, like SHOGUN WARRIORS and ZOIDS....

there have been a few others that i can't currently recall over at DC--one of the most famous BATMAN stories of the SILVER AGE featured the "BATMEN FROM AROUND THE WORLD", and featured 'batman and robin-esque' heroes such as THE KNIGHT AND THE SQUIRE in the UK, and EL GAUCHO (i forget his sidekicks name) in south america....

over at MARVEL there have been international heroes since WWII, many introduced in the pages of THE INVADERS (remember UNION JACK and SPITFIRE?) they recently updated the characters in the CITIZEN V AND THE V-BATTALLION miniseries, that chronicled their exploits dealing with threats to WORLD peace....

and not taking into account RETCON-ing, there have also been international heros and villans at MARVEL since the 60's (old-fogies like myself will remember the RED GUARDIAN, and his team THE SUPREME SOVIET, and IRONMAN mainstays TITANIUM MAN and THE CRIMSON DYNAMO--as well as the heroes that were introduced in the CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS miniseries, X-CALIBER--OH YEAH, and some guy nobody ever heard of named THE BLACK PANTHER), and MARVEL even had a whole line of british imprints (MARVEL UK) that featured CAPTAIN BRITAIN as the predominant character....

and since the 60's mutants have been international (BANSHEE, STORM, SUNFIRE, BLACK TOM, THE SCARLET WITCH AND QUICKSILVER, MAGNETO!!)--so much so that they did a recent series of stories where the govs. of the world held a conference to discuss the mutant problem....

i'll admit that they don't make a lot of appearances, compared to SPIDEY, BATS, SUPES, and WOLVERINE, but both DC Aand MARVEL have a long standing practice of creating and publishing super-heroes from around the world....

Re: What superhero world concept are you tired of seeing?

another really good wildstorm series was THE ESTABLISHMENT but I'm not suprised it didn't do well in the states it was wonderfully britcentric. the non stop british pop culture refrences probably explain why it only made it to issue 13. it was an amazing book for me proper british superheros. and i just wish teh american audience coudl have enjoyed it on teh same level i did but theres no way there going to spot dan dare and refreces to british kids tv.

unless you were raised in DETROIT, which is right across the river from CANADA, and were able to watch alot of CBC and TVOntario--which included tons of BRITISH imports (any other TOM GRATTAN'S WAR fans out there....?)

yeah--i also dug THE ESTABLISHMENT--liked it ALOT more than THE MONARCHY--but i didn't make the "DAN DARE" connection until you mentioned it....

Re: Help name a character

Totem

 

Hawksmoor

too close to "TOKEN...."

how about a cool name that's more reflective of her personality, like TROUBLE....

if not, how about "TUMULT"

Re: What super hero concepts would you like to see more of?

and even had a hidden refrence to strongbad from homestarrunner

??????????????

Re: What super hero concepts would you like to see more of?

oh top ten is brilliant its not that they use there powers for other stuff is that everyone has superpowers in neopolis so you get seemingly normal jobs being handled by peopel with super powers and teh police force for a city of super heros is justifiably a bit weird.

 

personal favorite bits, in the second TPB the hypermice and ultra cats continuity cross over apeing the amalgam comics was absolutly brilliant and had me laughing out loud for a full 5 minutes.

 

also in the second teh brilliant robot officer and hsi way of dealing with the anti machine sentiments of his co-workers

yeah--i wish they would come out with more issues--although the recent SMAX mini-series was funny and just plain DISTURBING....

Re: Early Marvel Age x Silver Age

I think "fooled" is more like it. That was FAKE?!? The author went to some length in the back of the book about where and how he dug up which details and which ones he had to interpret and such. That was an elaborate ruse. I am Embarrassed Supreme!

i felt the same way about "the sentinel" gag marvel pulled a few years back....b@$+@rd$!

Re: Name for a water guy...

Oh! you get reputation for that!!

 

 

Hawksmoor

danka scheon!

Re: Name for a water guy...

pool boy!!

Re: Name for a water guy...

*groan*

 

I was waiting for that one...

**wishes DO come true!!**

Re: Name for a water guy...

the SEA-MAN....

Re: What super hero concepts would you like to see more of?

but back to the main topic--for some reason i'm fixated on "mystery men"-type characters right now....

....you know, guys with maybe one or two powers, a weapon, or power object that through creative usage allows him or her to fight crime/evil--IN A COSTUME, WITH NON-LETHAL WEAPONS...

what i mostly like about these characters is that they are more vulnerable--a gang of thugs, or a mad robot are credible threats to them....

i also think these types of campaigns generally encourage players to use skills more and to roleplay....