Haven Walkur

Re: Villains, Villains and Villains Love his name, his power and his colour scheme. The King is one fine-looking dude, and one kool-acious cat! Well done, Legatus! He's a great-looking character with an excellent concept. I've noticed before that this "hero-making" application -- whatever it's called -- has a tendency to create "goofy", caricature-type characters...but apparently that can be avoided, as you've so elegantly demonstrated. Maybe it's a carry-over from the original Haven Walkur, a PC hero chick from the 1970s, but I'm crazy about the King! And I'd Rep you if I could, but I'm still required to spread the Rep around first. :-(

Re: in the spirit of christmas! Dr. Dee: Yes, I'm still chasing another of your wonderful wobbly pics! I thought I'd present this request a little differently, by letting the PC speak for herself.... I've included an excerpt from her application for a superhero reality show -- "Capes!"* -- that hopefully captures her personality and perspective. * "Capes!" was someone else's idea -- not mine -- for a Champions game where PCs would take part in a superhero reality show of the same name. This was several years ago; I wrote up an application but didn't get it submitted in time. INCIRRINA/TASMIN WRIGHT Appearance Hair Color: Blond Eye Color: Blue-gray Height: 1.78m (5'10") Weight: 86kg (190lbs) Description: Tasmin is a tall, leggy blond, built like a professional tennis player but rather busty. She has short curly hair and her fair skin is usually tanned. Her pointed chin and slightly slanted eyes combine with a humorous demeanor to give her an air of mischief. Excerpts from Incirrina’s application for Capes! the Superhero Reality Show Super Hero Name: Incirrina (pronounced "een-ki-REEN-ah") Sorry to hit you with a name that needs a pronunciation guide, but it fit so WELL. It's Latin for "of the flowing locks" – or in my case, tentacles. ;-) (Optional)Secret Identity/Alternate Name: Um, excuse me, secret identity here -- as in SECRET identity. Ethnic Group/Species: Half-human (Caucasian), half- something nasty from the sub-basement of Reality Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland Date of Birth: February 29th, 1980 Question 1. How did you hear about Capes! Project? *ahem* There were voices in the night (go do it!), voices out of sight (go to it!), Telling me to give your show a try...and whatever you do, Don't fudge the questionnaire Don't say you're Number One Don't fudge the questionnaire Unless it gets you an au-dit-ion. (with apologies for a shameless ripoff of "Don't Pay the Ferryman") Question 2. What do you feel you can offer (Both in Super heroic powers/gifts and your knowledges) to the Capes! team? I'm smart, good-looking and as foreign as it's possible to be and still be an American. (No, the alien parts don't show unless I flash them.) I have a sense of humor that never deserts me (note I didn't say it was a GOOD sense of humor), a broad esoteric AND practical knowledge of sociology and psychology...and a nodding acquaintance with the occult. I can handle myself in a fight, and based on my powers...well, let's just say I'm a very "handy" person to have around. Question 3. Why do you wish to participate in our show? Even though my mom was apparently some form of crawling abomination from the depths of the Shadow Realm, I'm more of the girl-next-door type. I really AM the kind of girl you could bring home to mother, though most people don't realize it; they take one look at the costume and the powers and FREAK. By participating in your show, I'm hoping to show your viewers -- while they're sitting safely on the other side of the TV screen -- that I'm just a person, and even though my powers look pretty unsettling, I'm one of the good guys. And I only wear the form-fitting studded leather because it's PRACTICAL for street-work, honest. Question 4. Have you ever been on a super hero team before? If so, which one(s) and why are you no longer a member? No, I've never managed to join a team. Not that I wouldn't have liked some company in and out of the field, but having to explain that whole "Mother-was-some-kind-of-nightmare-succubus-from-the-Shadows-and-I-inherited-my-powers-from-her" situation got old very fast...as did the other heroes' reactions. One too many cracks about calamari.... Question 5. Are you a supervillain, govt agent, law enforcement official, media person, or anyone else who is attempting to infiltrate Capes? Do you really think I'd tell you if I was? Question 6: Do you have some disability, ailment, or other situation (Occasional Demonic possession, intense allergy to space rocks, etc) that our scientists, doctors, and mystics should take into account? I'm mildly allergic to cat hair; it gives me asthma and makes my eyes puff up. Oh, and I have an assortment of traditional Shadow Realm susceptibilities and vulnerabilities that I inherited from Mom, but they don't always affect me. For example, I'm a regular church-goer -- and I'm talking the Episcopalian Church, not the First Church of Satan Incarnate. Question 7. What are your feelings on death and property damage? Whose death and whose property? Since I think that crimes against a person are always worse than crimes against property -- which is replaceable, while a person is NOT -- then it follows that property damage is permissible if it happens while saving someone from being killed, folded, spindled or mutilated. And by the same token, the only good reason for deliberately trying to kill someone is to STOP them from killing, folding, spindling or mutilating someone else. (And for the record, I count as "someone else" as well, in terms of not letting someone kill, fold, etc. ME.) But responders of all sorts need to use sense with the property damage thing; no-one's going to kick if firemen trash a burning building while saving the family, but going up in a skyscraper to pull a jumper off a ledge does NOT mean you need to break all the windows in the building on the way up. And if any responder -- including a costumed hero -- has to kill or ends up accidentally killing an attacker while stopping them from killing, folding, etc. another person, then that's regrettable, but it's a sort of rough justice. Under the law, it's called Self-Defense or Defense of Another, and it's a homicide, not murder. Question 8. How may we contact you should we be interested in having you join? (Phone, mystic mirror, large signal, etc) Mystic mirror? Don't I just wish! No, I bought a disposable cell phone for this. My number is 858-XXX-XXXX Question 9. What are your superhuman abilities? I've got tentacles. Lots of tentacles. More tentacles than the ordinary octopus can handle. Two or three of them are usually visible – unless I’m concentrating -- but most of 'em ain't, and they're all very long and VERY strong. Oh, and the visible ones have some truly photogenic color combos and patterns -- brilliant black, glowing purple, electric blue and luminous scarlet, all in rings and rosettes like the ones on an octopus, if that octopus had been dropping acid down there under the sea. I can make more of my tentacles visible – or invisible -- if I concentrate, but you really wouldn’t want to see me with more than a dozen or so hanging out; all that writhing gets just a little...gross. And the colors can be pretty extreme, sometimes, like ultra-violent and infra-dead extreme. Or barf-bags and rubber rooms extreme. (Have I mentioned my mom being of netherworldly extraction yet...?) That’s why my costume’s scarlet and indigo; it’s one of the more sedate color schemes on my tentacles. Physically, I'm also more durable than the average bear...um, hero. I can squeeze through very small openings, I see in the dark and I don't breathe very often. (And for the record, "Incirrina" is a suborder of the order Octopoda, which includes most of the varieties of octopi -- octopuses? -- that people have heard of. It goes along nicely with the tentacles and other odd abilities.) Question 10 How did you acquire them? Are you a natural mutant or gifted in some other fashion? My dad always enjoyed an occasional walk on the wild side, but one night -- about 27 years ago -- the wild side came up and hit him with a paternity suit. I'm a half-breed Human/Shadow Realmer, conceived and born the old-fashioned way...though I don't know if you could call that "natural", given that my mother was apparently something unspeakable and unnameable –- unpronounceable? -- just like in an H.P. Lovecraft story. My powers and abilities all seem to come from the secret toy surprises hidden in my mixed blood. Question 11 What are your interests outside of crime fighting? Hey, is this an application for Capes! or a dating service? Anyway, I dance; some ballet and other classical dance forms, but mostly modern. NOT jazz! I can't stand the jazz forms, they look like someone having a series of bad spasms. When I get the chance, I like to travel; I've been around the country on my bike -- a 1998 Harley Road Glide FL painted up to match my tentacles -- and around the world flying stand-by. And I enjoy collecting oral traditions and urban legends -- sometimes even fairytales or nursery rhymes -- from all over the place. I do a lot of reading on the occult, both the serious scholarly material and the trashy "National Enquirer" stuff, which is usually a lot more fun! Question 12 Tell us about yourself: your likes, dislikes, general personality and style. Life's been weird all my life long, but I'm not world-weary; I like the fact that usually the weirdest thing I get with my breakfast cereal is ME! Seriously, "normal" life just seems as if it would be terribly...flat, with nothing but the routine and mundane -- especially since I don't like routine and I don't like to be bored. Oh, I like there to BE rules, but I only want to use them as a jumping-off point.

Re: in the spirit of christmas! Dr. Dee- You're back you're back you're back wheee you're BACK! Good to see you again...and I'll try to come up with a character concept to tickle your artistic fancy this weekend. Admittedly, I'm finding it hard to choose between your two styles, the "painty" and the "vector"; you've produced some wonderful pieces in both. Oh, and for the record, I think your updated Captain Marvel is phenomenal! It's a wealth of textures and images in one picture. The textures and creases/folds of Cap's costume are satisfyingly realistic and the colours are inspired. It's amazing how substantial the grey cloth looks, almost velvety by contrast with the white trim. There's something compelling about the background, too, the visual sense of half-seen shapes and intermittent illumination; it conveys a hint of restless motion...to me, anyway. ;-) And Captain Marvel himself - wow. Resolve and weariness in his expression and posture, and the ambiguity of the grey costume and the half-lit background. He looks as if he's carrying a weight of experience; you've managed to depict his face as both strong and worn...and his hair is a kind of tarnished gold, rather than the classic 4-colour sunlight-yellow. He's obviously got something on his mind, something that's going to require a major decision from him, and may or may not have a "neat & tidy" or "happy" resolution. The line of his mouth - not quite pursed, not disgusted, but perhaps a bit resigned? It's a very sophisticated expression, especially for one of the oldest and most simplistic comicbook characters around! Yes, your Captain Marvel looks...real. Not just realistic, but like a real person thinking real thoughts, and every line in his body confirms it. It's a stunning piece, Dr. Dee. One of my favourites of yours.

Re: Silly question: Oh so Repped.

Re: Silly question: To defend Truth, Justice and The American Way!

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Thank-you, Legatus! I'd recognise Cos in his "bustier o' doom" outfit anywhere...and I have to admit, I always thought he looked pretty hot (depending on who was drawing him that issue).

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Gaati and Grail Old friends and partners. Gaati -- the blade of truth -- is a superb martial artist, so practiced in the 18 Disciplines of Ninjutsu that she has gained access to the 9 Levels of Power, and can perform many of this discipline's legendary feats. Of the 9 Levels of Power, Gaati has attained the Level of Jin, with some elements of Retsu. Rin Strength of mind and body Pyou Direction of energy Tou Harmony with the universe Sha Healing, self and others Kai Premonition of danger Jin Knowing the thoughts of others Retsu Mastery of time and space Zai Controlling the elements of nature Zen Enlightenment Grail -- one-handed occultist bound to an aspect of the Sangreal and to the element of water. Though very knowledgeable in folklore, religion and the varied ways of the occult, she's more a scholar of magic than a practitioner; more John Constantine than Dr. Strange. With her link to elemental Water, she can summon water forth from the grail and shape it as she wishes. She can project this water out as any of a variety of attacks, defenses or movement powers, including a watery "portal" to other locations, or as a "reflecting pool" in which to catch glimpses of the future, the past or distant places.

Re: Superhero Images Thank-you, Duke Bushido, and don't worry; you've posted these in the right place. It was thoughtful and generous of you to share these. Repped -- and welcome back.

Re: Sweet new characters I really liked your "recasting" of the characters of the Nibelungenlied, especially the new names. And I'm also thrilled to see someone using non-English, non-American themes in their character suite. We do have an international membership here on the HERO Board, after all. Oh, I love the effects on these two characters...absolutely fantastic! And the names, very suggestive. Legatus, you really are a font of creativity. Have some Rep. ________________________________________________________________ Blast! Have some Rep -- when the Board next allows me to rep you.

Re: Things You'd See in a World Full of Supers... People walking around wearing FAA or NTSB beacons on a belt or chain. People walking around talking on cell phones -- without a cell phone. An apparently blind man guarding the door of a federal building, checking people through with a touch. And once inside, most go on to their destinations, while some get intercepted by alarming-looking figures in security uniforms. A professional-looking young man with suit, tie and briefcase wearing a dog license/rabies tag around his neck. Through downtown in any big city, a lane next to the bike lane marked VEHICULAR SPEED NON-VEHICLES ONLY Love this topic, SSgtBaloo. Have some Rep.

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Have to agree with DusterBoy about the apparent Teutonic taste for tragedy ;-) This story reminds me of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, and the legends on which it was based. Your work with the character-maker is detailed and painstaking, Legatus, and your character concepts are great! But I still can't get past the visual absurdity of the HeroMachine figures having enormous ski-feet. :-P Those "ski-feet" really do spoil the pics for me -- but that's not your doing, of course; it's the program. I did notice, though, that SOMEHOW you managed to produce normal-looking booted feet in your picture of Graf Felsenstein. Well done, there!

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine For those who think the weight of history can't hurt them -- may I present Touchstone, an Israeli psychometrist with a military background. Touchstone can psychically "read" the past from objects. Generally this requires her to touch the object in question, but not always. Her chronological "range" gives reliable information on object impressions from present day to 100 BCE, and progressively less reliable information beyond that. How can psychometry be used as an attack? Touchstone found a way. Her infamous Tumult of History attack allows her to overwhelm her targets with a flood of information drawn from objects in the area. This will at least daze or stun targets, and usually render them unconscious. In the past, Touchstone has driven targets into catatonia or coma with the sudden storm of impressions. This image was created using the Marvel Creator, and a fair amount of Paintshop Pro 6 postwork.

Re: Some Help for WWII Icons Some of these, especially the Americans and the British, were lifted from a Champions WWII gaming supplement. The Allies referred to their superheroes as "Hypermen" and -"women", because the term "Super" was felt to be too German-sounding. Axis metanormals were called Supermen (and -women). Allied Hypermen Australia Ned Kelly Waltzing Matilda Tasmanian Devil Belgium Tervuren (Belgian sheepdog) Canada Moose Borealis Lumberjack Alberta Denmark Beowulf Bothvar Bjarki (the Battle Bear) France Esprit de Corp Loup Garou - shapeshifter; classic wolfman Gammadion (radioactive hero and grandson of Marie and Pierre Curie) - energy blaster Déjà Vu - low-power precognitive Holland Windjammer - weather control, especially wind Floodgate - water powers Saint Nicholas (tall and thin, bishop’s long red cloak and high cap) - Presence and Ego attacks (guilt, shame) India Kaa - Stretching, limbs only Savitri - Mental Defense, high Ego, Aid to Ego Mexico El Diablo Rojo (The Red Devil) - Zorro-type hero New Zealand Rimu - tough, durable, some Growth Triple Star Norway Hoarfrost Midnight Sun Ragnarok Poland Jadwiga (with her rose-embroidered apron) - HTH fighter who uses her apron like a bullfighter’s cape Szybko (“fast”) Hejnal (from “Hejnal Mariacki”, the warning bugle call) - brick with sonic powers Rusalka - water-powers or mind control, illusions Skarbnik (“Treasurer”- ghostly guardian of miners) South Africa Adamantine -armoured skin Adamastor (monstrous giant who was turned into a mountain) - growth Pretoria Springbok - speedster Jock of the Bushveld (heroic dog in classic South African children’s book) - scruffy HTH brawler with extra running and keen senses Oom Lokomotief (“Uncle Locomotive”) - brick with extra running, skill levels in move-through King Protea - (South Africa’s national flower. Fire-resistant. Enormous flowerheads vary in colour from pale greenish cream to a soft pink) - HTH fighter with colorful costume and extra armor versus fire Koekoekwesp (Cuckoo Wasp) - very tough armored skin, bright metallic hue, rolls up into a ball for extra armor Kaapse Spookpadda (Ghost Frog) - leaping, clinging, stealth/invisibility Soviet Union Ursa Major General Mayhem Battlesuit Potempkin Comrade Winter Captain Comintern and the Bolshevik Boys (Hammer, Sickle, Red Streak) Tovarisch (“friend”) - illusionist who appears as other people Grandmother Russia (originally “Baba Yaga”) - magical powers Sweden Vist (the giant who created the island of Visingo) - growth Gruvrå (Lord of the Mine) - tunneling Sølvmora (Silver Mother) - animates/transforms silver Grim (graveyard-walker) - classic Batman-type, possibly unpowered United Kingdom Union Jack - British flagsuit Big Ben - growth Dr. Goldwing - "Doc Savage"-type Silver Shadow - becomes a figure of living quicksilver; flight, gobs of damage reduction Sea Change Blazon, the Knight Unconquerable Repulse Mole - tunneling, darkness generating Starline Imperial Lion Ironside Britannia Screaming Lord Such - sonic projector Bow Street Runner - speedster United States of America (home front heroes) CRIMEBUSTERS Shadowcat Fletcher Saladin the Great Leaping Lizard Knight Owl Captain Future INDEPENDENTS Madame Moonlight The Boogieman United States of America (home front villains) THE EXPATRIATES Privateer Second-Hand Rose Long John Silver Blond Beard the Pirate INDEPENDENTS King Bee Mud Pie The Postmaster Radiostar Doberman Little Arson Annie United States of America American (European front) American Eagle Blond Bombshell Patriot Old Glory Captain Atlas Hyperion GOVERNMENT OFFICE OF HYPERHEROES (European front) Major Victory Minute Man Vanguard Vanguard Jr. G.I.A.N.T.

Re: Some Help for WWII Icons From a WWII Champions game that ultimately never went anywhere, despite extensive planning and prep. Axis Supermen (Übermenschen) Germany Witwemacher (Widow Maker) Schiffbrucher (Ship Breaker) Feindjäeger (Enemy Hunter) Kriegsfalke (Warhawk) Blitzkrieger (Lightning Warrior) Jagdgauner (Hunting Shark) - menace of the English Channel, huge shark with a man's brain Totenseemann (Death Sailor) Augenblick (Eyeblink) - speedster Blut Hexe (Bloodwitch) Panzer Grenadier (Armored Infantryman) Der Mauer (The Wall) Turm (Tower) Unheilvoll Drache (Unholy/Unnatural Dragon) Frau Fledermaus (Mrs. Bat) Verteidigerin (Defender) Donnerteufel (Thunder Devil) Feuersturm (Firestorm) Sturmführer (Stormlord) Der Geist (The Ghost) Schwarzeis (Black Ice) Dunkelschrek (Dark Terror) Kriegsmariner (Sea Warrior) Condor Legionnaires - living buzz bombs, all quite insane Vampir Lohengrin, the Knight of the Swan Germania Herr Doktor Ungleheuermeister (Dr. Monster-Master) Finland Väinämöinen [VI-na-MER-nen] (magician and sage) Ilmarinen [EEL-ma-RIN-en] (inventor and gadgeteer) Kaleva (giant) Louhi [LO-hee] (magician and shapechanger) Greece Marathon Nike Italy Decurian Gladiator Veltro (Greyhound) - speedster Il Sole (The Sun) - energy projector Innominato (invisibility and general stealth) Japan Kamakaze (Divine Wind) Shinyu (Magnificent Dragon) Shinryu (Radiant Dragon) Mr. Bonsai - plant controller Origami Girl - flattens herself into 2D Bishamon (war god; armor and spear) Kintaro (immense strength, animal communication) Raiden/Raijin (storm god) Issun-Boshi ['One-Inch Boy'] - shrinking Yuki-Onna ['The Lady of the Snow'] - cold powers Tanuki [trickster badger-dog] - illusionist Kitsune [shapeshifting fox] - werefox mentalist, clairvoyance, clairaudience Tsuru Hime [Princess Tsuru] - female martial artist skilled with naginata Konaki Jiji ['old man crying like a baby'] - manipulates personal weight Kamaitachi ['sickle-weasel'] - martial artist/speedster skilled with tonfa Nurikabe ['invisible wall'] - brick with Invisibility Ittan-momen ['length of cotton cloth'] - flier with HTH attacks and Entangle Shachihoko (sea monster; tiger’s head, fish body, stingers) - water powers and poisons Oni-san ['noble ogre'] - strong, very tough, instant regeneration (limbs reattach), uses a huge spiked iron bar (kanabo) and wears a costume of red, blue or black

Re: Some Help for WWII Icons France -- Esprit de Corps, a heroine with the strength of all the French fallen.

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Splendid pic, very appealing details. Well done! It's always good to see more of your work. Would this character's name translate into English as "The Executioner?" You've produced some impressive pics with this HM3 program...and it's especially good to see characters that don't have visible elbow-joints or BIGFOOT syndrome!

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Sgt. Superior is your NPC, isn't he, SimmComm? Bravo! Beautifully done. REPPED! And please pass some "virtual Rep" on to Red, for that lovely last comment.

Re: Into the Past With Strangers Very entertaining, Csyphrett. Kudos for successfully keeping track of so many characters -- and keeping them in character.

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Preach it, brother!

Re: Name this PC - please? Savoir Faire ("sav-WAH fair") This French term means literally "to know to do". It's usually applied to someone with a good grasp of the social graces, but it could equally well apply to someone who's just all-around competent, resourceful or never at a loss...and given this character's wide range of powers, skills and equipment, the name seemed like a good one for him. Pro Bono Well, he was a lawyer AND a volunteer, yes? The Latin phrase means, "For the good," and usually refers to the legal work in the public interest that attorneys do for free...only now his public interest work is a little more hands on.

Re: Qi Ragdoll: For an idea of how the "creation" powers might look in action, you could find some old issues of the Legion of Super-Heroes comic (from DC) which feature the Heroes of Lallor, another team of teenaged superheroes from the 30th/31st Century. One of their members is heroine called Life Lass, whose powers are very similar to Qi's.

Re: Poison's Champions Art Thread Poison, your shading is, as usual, masterful. However, with this style, you seem to have lost that sharp clarity of line that I like so much -- what I referred to as your "elegant" line-work. Also, the character's bodily proportions are noticeably "off". Especially in comparison to his shoulders and cap, he seems to have a disproportionately small head and an enormous neck.

Re: TV to rpg PICTURE OMITTED Gasp! Um...er...well..."shoddy" isn't precisely the word that occurred to me -- but I'll take your word for it. ;-)

Re: TV to rpg

Re: TV to rpg Bless you, Korvar, my son, and may you be forgiven your pedantic ways...heh, no, pedantry's actually not a bug, it's a feature -- as I should know . Anyway, how are you numbering your seasons of Blake's 7? When B7 aired in New Zealand, "Season One" was Episodes 1-26, and Jenna (as played by Sally Knyvette) appeared in all of them. And never thereafter. As a matter of fact, I think the character's brief appearance on the organ-legging medical ship later in the series featured someone else playing Jenna; in any case, Knyvette wasn't credited. (By the bye, Season Two in NZ was Episodes 27-39, and Season Three - the last season - Episodes 40-52) I LOVE THAT SERIES ! ! !