Lord Liaden

Whether this counts as "making war" is at best highly debatable, legally.

I mean, he is "the Mad Titan," not "the Debatable Titan." Thanos, despite being extremely intelligent, perceptive, and cunning, had been living with his delusion of saving the Universe for so long, he was no longer capable of seeing the logical flaws in his position. A fault not at all uncommon among humans, as well. But remember that Thanos' example of negative outcomes isn't Earth, it's his home world of Titan, where the disaster he predicted actually came to pass. Whether it came to pass for the reasons Thanos believes is another issue.

And I'm grateful for you taking the time to do that, Spence. The only other print reference to Seeker I can find now in 5E/6E books, which is consistent with the fictional character concept I outlined above, is from Vibora Bay p. 50. The import/export company, Transnational Container, is sitting on ten thousand Seeker action figures which they bought on speculation, and haven't been able to find a buyer for at any price. It's actually rather ironic, in that Seeker is the protagonist and central character in IMHO one of the better books Steve Long wrote for Champions, Watchers of the Dragon. Steve succeeded in making Seeker/Don Morgan believable, interesting, even compelling. But I guess the union of Steve Long with Don Morgan was purely contractual.

Yeah, when you express Seeker's whole concept and origin, it really seems like a mashup of a bunch of superficial pop-culture concepts popular at the time (1989) that Seeker was created: an orphaned swashbuckling Australian ninja country bumpkin from the Outback, raised and trained in ninjutsu by a survivor of a Japanese ninja recon team hiding in the Outback since WW II. The "figure dressed in black" from the cover of AC 25 is actually supposed to be Seeker, dressed in gear more appropriate to ninja stealth activities. That's part of an update to the character's history and game stats which make up an article in that issue.

And it's perfectly fair to prefer that. I'm with you, too. But I have to point out that what you just described is fundamentally, variations on what Tony and Nat are doing in the movie -- isolation and obsession.

The fictional countries would be especially good choices. In particular, Costa Azul, Lugendu, and Taqiristan are hubs of international criminal activity. If interested, you can read more about them and the other CU countries on this forum post . In the current official Champions Universe, there's a group called Villainy Unlimited (thoroughly detailed in the 5E book, Cops, Crews, And Cabals), that provides a range of services to supervillains who have great difficulty getting them from other sources: legal representation, bail bonding, insurance, medical care, acquiring costumes and more mundane items, mediation of disputes, and the like. Financial assistance and advice is another major service they offer. While VU won't directly launder money, or provide any direct assistance in committing a crime, it does provide financial and investment advice, help villains set up bank accounts and trust funds under false names, and transfer money to offshore bank accounts. It's not that VU's founder, lawyer Tom Franchetti, has significant scruples. He just wants to stay below the radar of law enforcement, and maintain plausible deniability. It would be easy to broaden VU's services to the more blatantly criminal for use in a particular campaign; or create a similar organization willing to take bigger chances for bigger rewards.

Much easier to do that here in Canada. All our cash is either metal or plastic.

First, implied compliment gratefully accepted. 😊 Second, just to reiterate, I really didn't like that they took Thor in the direction of profound depression, with its attendant consequences. But since they did, drama, in practical terms, weighs in favor of them adding the comical elements. Depressed Thor, with or without the fat, would be a figure of pity without some comic relief, which would be likely to have depressed and distressed the audience. Being able to laugh at something inherently makes it easier to bear. Lord knows there's more than enough downer in Endgame. Thor the buffoon greatly annoyed me, but whiny Thor would have been even worse. Moreover, when you look at the movie as a whole, the other Avengers pretty much cover the rest of the spectrum for how people cope with grief and loss. Natasha throws herself into her work of leading the remaining Avengers. Clint turns his rage and pain outward, trying to exhaust it in violence. Steve renounces fighting altogether, focusing on helping others come to terms with their own losses. Bruce gains incentive to resolve his long-standing issues and find peace within himself. Tony withdraws altogether to create a safe little bubble for himself and his family. Rocket uses sarcasm to mask the loss of the only people he considered family.

I think it's partly the reality-show, social media mentality. The line between what's real and what's staged for effect has been deliberately blurred. Everything many people do now has to be made public for other people to comment on. Actions are being taken with the intent of getting views, likes, and retweets.

Patriotism is supposed to be loyalty to a country, to the best interests of the whole. Too many Americans today seem to think it means loyalty to one man. And it's even more misguided for it to be to that man, of all people.

It's more likely that most people today know Captain America through movies, but then they have even less excuse. This riot was against everything that movie Cap stands for and fought for. "I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from." "This isn't freedom. This is fear."

Just to make sure we're talking about the same things, Adventurers Club was the print periodical from Hero Games for 4E Hero System. With the beginning of the DOJ era and 5E, the company published an electronic magazine, Digital Hero. I'll search through the latter for the article Duke Bushido mentioned, and get back to you. In the sense of their roles as members of the example Champions superhero team for 4E and for 5E, Nighthawk did essentially replace Seeker, yes. What I'm asking about is their respective status for the official Champions Universe game setting under 5E/6E. In that world Seeker is a fictional character created for the licensed Champions comic book, created because Nighthawk wouldn't agree to have his identity used in the comic. It's clearly an in-joke for long-time Champions players. Thanks for your help so far.

Fair enough. I stand chastised. 😔 Very much so, yes. Apparently that crossed a line, for which I apologize.

With Infinity War I thought they struck a solid, acceptable balance between the comical and the dramatic in Thor. What they did with him in Endgame was one big factor in my not wanting to watch that movie a second time. I had to rewatch some Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes to wash out the taste of that.

Rather like birthdays or anniversaries, I fear we're fixating too much on specific dates and numbers as though they represent some kind of milestone. There's nothing any more magical about 500,000 deaths than there is in 499,000. Any death that could have been prevented is too many, and the only number that will be a milestone is the one that starts going down.

Is that the limit in decorum for what we can imply might happen to people who tried to overthrow the American government? I guess I assumed the general sentiment would be less merciful.

Yes, I'm asking for help tracking down a CU datum. Please get your mockery out of the way up front... 😔 I know I've read the story of how the classic 4E superhero, Seeker, became a fictional replacement for Nighthawk in the licensed "Champions comic series" within the official 5E/6E CU, because Nighthawk who was a member of the Champions team at the time, refused permission to use his name and image. But for the life of me I can't find the published print source of the story. Anyone remember where it is? My status as CU oracle hangs in the balance. 🙏

Fury using the Watcher's all-seeing eyes (don't rant don't rant don't rant...)

I'll just start ranting if I broach the whole subject of the "Original Sin" storyline.

Yeah, well, maybe not so lucky when they have to take a shower with the bigger guys...

Yes, plus every other loss I listed, before the snap. It's really a testament to Thor's character that he hadn't already been overwhelmed by grief. They might have gone another route to his redemption, and I selfishly wish they had, but I'm not sure what that could have been. The movies had already used depowering him. Story-wise I think "fat Thor" was a fair choice, in that whatever else was taken from him, Thor remained this physically perfect, godlike man. Stripping him of that -- or more accurately, burying it under fat -- was the final step in stripping away who he had been. From there the only directions, dramatically, were death or renewal.

To be clear, Thor is my favorite comic-book superhero, and I absolutely hate the direction Marvel Studios took him. But from the perspective of trying to sell entertainment to an audience, I can't fault their decision. MCU Thor had become static, not growing as a character, and was among the less popular MCU heroes. Chris Hemsworth is a very talented comic actor, so using that talent to add to Thor's appeal made sense. With Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War they essentially turned Thor into Marvel Comics' Hercules, a lovable goof who also happens to be an awesome badass. The response of moviegoers -- as opposed to longtime comics fans -- to that change was strongly positive. In Avengers: Endgame they turned Thor full-on Volstagg (comic version). That actually was similar to a development from the run of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy comic -- the 31st Century version, I mean. And as much as I loathed seeing him like that, as part of MCU Thor's character arc it made sense. Over the course of the MCU's rollout Thor lost everything. He lost his lover. He lost his whole family. He lost all his closest friends. He lost his home. He lost the weapon that was like part of him. He failed to protect his people, and lost half of them. Through all of that he kept moving forward, refusing to give up. What finally broke him was what he saw as his failure to save half the people in the Universe. Anyone with experience of depression and/or PTSD can grasp how Thor became what he is in Endgame. But in the end he found the help he needed to be a hero again, and that is an inspiring development. (Too little too late for my liking, but still.)

Organized crime runs on greed and fear, romanticizing notwithstanding. Unquestioning loyalty is one price higher-ups demand for the rewards they dole out. In that, the mob-boss analogy for Donald Trump does apply.

Cute.

That issue alone could delay the start of a trial for a year or more.