Lord Liaden

That's a lot to digest. I'll need more time to give a thorough response. In the meantime, I can tell you that the most information about the Progenitors can be found in Champions Beyond. Let me offer you a few highlights. Scions of an ancient, very advanced and enlightened race, for millions of years the Progenitors have studied the rise of life and intelligence in the Milky Way Galaxy. What they call their Great Mission is not only to promote the evolution of sapient species, but to guide their development so that wisdom and compassion will ultimately prevail over hatred and fear. Many races have had their prehistory and genetics studied and altered by the Progenitors, including Humanity. Humans' superior potential for developing super-powers was inserted into their genetic code by the Progenitors. They also evolved proto-humans into the superpowered Empyrean race who co-exist with Humans on Earth. The Progenitors continue to conduct new experiments and periodically monitor previous ones, but very few beings alive today are aware of the full scope of their activities, or have even heard of them. They're very secretive, and practically impossible for less-advanced beings to perceive unless they wish it. The Progenitors may be concerned that knowledge of their actions will compromise the results of their experiments. At least one early project of "uplifting" a race to sapience developed such biological and social flaws that the Progenitors wiped out the species as irredeemable. This example highlights that while the Progenitors' goals are ultimately benevolent, they're capable of great ruthlessness in the name of the greater good. They're also not infallible, or even always in accord -- occasionally a Progenitor has disputed the Great Mission and chosen a different path. While not stated in CB, it would not be unreasonable to assume a Progenitor might want to perform some "followup" experiments on one of their subjects, such as Humanity, which could lead to the origin of a superhuman. They might also intervene if they discover an outside force tampering with or threatening one of their projects. The Progenitors long ago transcended mortality and the need for physical bodies. They exist as pure energy, although they can resume corporeal form at will, in whatever shape they choose. Only a few dozen of them remain, most still engrossed in the Great Mission. In the official setting the Progenitors are actually much older than the Elder Worm race, and did not war against them directly -- the Worm's eons-long rivals for control of the galaxy were the Malvans. You are of course free to change that for your own games. What you describe does give me a few additional thoughts, though. Referring back to Champions Beyond, what is now the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter was once a planet, inhabited by a sapient botanical (plant) race called the Phytians, who were also the subjects of Progenitor experiments. By the time they'd achieved a level of civilization comparable to 20th Century Earth, one of their supervillainous scientists discovered some Progenitor devices, and attempted to use them to blackmail his world into submission to him. But he didn't truly understand the fantastically advanced tech, and shattered his planet. As CB notes, it's possible that some relics of the Phytians are hidden in the asteroid belt, as well as a few Progenitor artifacts. If you want to arrange a space-borne encounter with a Progenitor, that would seem the likeliest spot for it to happen. I have some thoughts regarding the Elder Worm, and Old Gods, but I need sleep right now. I'll try to revisit this topic some time tomorrow.

Congratulations! I'm sure Aaron is smiling.

Always a risk to meet your childhood heroes. More often than not they fall short of your expectations.

There was a period when deconstruction of the superhero genre was fresh, interesting, and useful. Deeper analysis of what and why certain characters and conventions are the way they are, contributed in the best cases to stories with a richer, more mature undercurrent, while keeping the ideals and hopefulness that made us love superheroes. But too many comics creators are still stuck in that tearing-down phase, thinking that being "dark" and "edgy" is enough. They forgot, or never understood, that superheroes have endured for generations because they inspire us to strive to be better than we are.

Petra is elsewhere on this thread. Well worth the viewing.

Those water gods have been fickle toward California over the past few years. Much of the state in cultivation now would be desert if not for extensive irrigation. But Cali's profligate water use will not be sustainable under pressure from global warming. One day that "temple" will be an ironic ruin.

I thought at first that Peter Jackson was that person. Then The Hobbit trilogy happened.

I guess the company uses "Third Edition" for everything pre-4E, even if it used another iteration of Hero System than Champions.

I was always intrigued by the contrast between Conan and Howard's other barbarian-turned-king, Kull. They both come from similar backgrounds, with comparable physical stature and prowess. But Conan is resolutely focused on the practical concerns of survival and profit. He wants to enjoy life to the fullest, and rarely gave thought to life's meaning. But Kull was the opposite. He thought about and discussed deep questions of philosophy and theology. As a king Kull would sometimes agonize over the morality of his decisions, over the "right" thing to do for his subjects. He was also less of a loner than Conan, having a small circle of trusted comrades and advisors. Conan may be the archetype of the fantasy barbarian, but Kull shows that Howard didn't consider depth and complexity to be antithetical to that archetype. Then again, Howard wrote more about Conan than Kull, and the former is the more popular character. I guess there's a strong appeal to the straightforward, easy to understand protagonist, with an attitude of (as Roy Thomas once wrote for comic-book Conan), "Gird my loins, draw my sword, and roll the dice!"

IME a glass half full seems to leave us less thirsty than one half empty. But as I've said many times, worrying about what we can't change is a waste. I'm presuming Americans here pretty much all intend to vote, and I see evidence that many of us are trying to keep each other informed and spread the truth and facts around. Beyond that, there's nothing to be done until the election. There's definitely reason to hope, but no amount of worry will shift the odds or skew the demographics. Until then,

Ooooh... Subtle! 👍

Because Greek happened before English.

Donald Trump is all but guaranteed to win the Republican primary, barring legal or medical issues derailing him. But it should be noted that Trump's margins of victory in the primaries have consistently lagged well behind Joe Biden's. Primary voters are the most motivated and committed, and in a real sense the leaders are both incumbents. But even among motivated Republicans their enthusiasm for Trump is rather lukewarm. As for the abortion issue, 12% of the vote would be decisive in many competitive districts. The Democrats would not have to flip that many seats to regain control of the House.

As Dracula said, "I do not drink... wine."

My father was an accountant. Forms like those kept us fed.

Of all the harm Donald Trump did to America, that's the worst. Even a dictatorship will be stable if the majority of the people believe what it does to be right and necessary. And the most enlightened government will fall if they don't.

“Although it is the instinct of every district attorney to defend convictions, our job is to see that justice is done.” It's refreshing to hear a prosecutor express that principle, even in Texas. It's one that should be emphasized throughout the judiciary and law enforcement.

But why is Rittenhouse even offered an appearance like this? He was a dumb punk kid who basically got away with shooting three people because he was a dumb punk kid. Then certain media and politicians built him up because they thought they could use him to advance their own agendas. Since then AFAICT he's done nothing but cash in on his notoriety. He's changed nothing, advocated for no cause, contributed no new thought.

I forgot how sexy Ally Walker's voice is.

"The University of Memphis said in a statement that due to free speech, they cannot legally prohibit the event." That's garbage and they know it. The First Amendment applies to government censoring or banning speech. It doesn't require any private organization to provide a platform for speech that it doesn't approve of.

Just FYI, the movie almost directly quotes a remark attributed to Genghis Khan, as written in Harold Lamb's famous biography of the conqueror. Lamb's translation is pretty liberal compared to most others that I've found.

Michael, just in case you weren't aware, Aaron published the Hell-Raisers in an adventure for GURPS Supers, School of Hard Knocks. Substantial background for the team members included. Aaron also submitted a file to Red October for free download with 4E HERO System stats for all the characters in that adventure, as well as historical notes on what happened to the characters in his campaign, and where the adventure differs from that. I'm going to Attach it to this post. KNOCKS11.TXT

I've never seen Joe Biden display anything like this.

Actually, I don't recognize him either, which is why I went to Bono. I wouldn't mind a name, please.