SKJAM!

Re: What Would Your Character Do? #64: Shooting Star Mask of Justice: Will call upon the stranger to halt and explain himself in all the languages he knows (English, Greek, Italian (a bit).) If the stranger fails to respond, the Mask will attempt gestures (this fellow looks humanoid, right? Mask of Justice would know if it's a disguise.) If all that fails, the Mask will follow him until he has an idea of where the stranger/alien is going. He's going to presume that the alien is up to no good, just like the ones that arrived back in '38. If the stranger responds aggressively, the Mask will spring into action, making sure to neutralize that gauntlet first thing. (Nick has Will Not Kill, not Will Not Break Arm.) Rock Bottom: Will announce his presence and call upon the stranger to surrender. If the stranger refuses to do so, RB will attempt to subdue the stranger, using the minimum force necessary (and making sure to crush the gauntlet early on.) If the stranger is more than a match for Rock, he'll call in the rest of the New Guard to help. Calculus: Will attempt to communicate with the stranger, using universal symbology. If he can get through, he'll explain that disintegrating people without a trial is illegal in Chicago. If things get rough, it's "take out the gauntlet" time again. He'll call in Thunderstorm if the alien's too tough. Kira Midori: Uses her telepathy to inform the stranger that he is under arrest, informs him of the charges, and "reads" him his rights. If the stranger doesn't come peacefully, she'll subdue the alien in approved future cop manner, escalating to the Liberty Legion backup if necessary. Talion: "Naked again. Oh joy. How long was I out for, Stormlord?" "A little over a year." "Man, I hate being disintegrated. Anyone ever find out what that alien was about?" "Well, judging by the Green Meteor Empire warships attacking the Earth, he appears to have been the son of their ruler, who got lost." "Figures."

Re: Wwycd? #82

Re: WWYCD? #80: Future Hope or Hellspawn? Oh wait! i will meet 2 women who actually like me who will both marry me and will both have a child with me. "Well, not in the same timeline, Dad. In the *good* timeline, it's just my Mom, and you stay faithful to her." "No, it's my Mommy! His mother is a complete slut!"

Re: WWYCD #81 A True Test of a Hero Now, assuming a mind switch, rather than real world death, let's look in on how my characters would react.... Mask of Justice: "The year is...2004? And the Japanese won? Great Scott!" Eventually he would figure out he's not in an Axis-won parallel Earth, but it is curious that no one seems to remember any of the masked crimefighters of WWII. He's stuck without his powers, in an out-of-shape body, and 60 years behind the times, but Nick still has all his fighting knowledge, and he's a really sharp investigative journalist. He'll make it somehow. Rock Bottom: Is in an "old", out of shape white straight guy's body, which will cause him no end of disorientation. Worse, he has none of his powers, and his skills aren't really all that useful in the real world (he was just starting college.) He's going to be hurting. Calculus: Has just for the second time of his life gone from supergenius to "normal". No powers, no wife and kid--but on the bright side, no one trying to kill him, and his skills are eminently marketable, even without superintelligence. He's going to be miserable emotionally, but fine physically. Kira Midori: Yow. She's suddenly in an out of shape white straight guy's body, even more disorienting than for Rock Bottom. And she's suddenly mind-blind, which is like being profoundly deaf and legally blind for her. Yes, she has her police officer skills, but with the high probability of her being locked in an asylum for a while until she reorients herself, who'd hire her? Talion: Will find my life marginally better than his own, and resist going back.

Re: Wwycd? #82 The Mask of Justice has been retired since sometime in the 1950s, if he's even still alive. And since his combat effectiveness was human-level, he'd be a pretty darn useless in his nineties. Rock Bottom would love a chance to go up with the satellite-smashing crew, but who'll watch Baltimore? Calculus will figure out a way to use existing space debris in a billiards fashion to knock all five satellites out in one shot, thus saving most of these folks a trip. Kira Midori will be more help on the ground, she's not very effective against robots. Talion, likewise, is utterly useless against robots.

Re: WWYCD #81 A True Test of a Hero The Mask of Justice: Hoo boy. The good news is that I have all sorts of useful future information. The bad news is that I don't have any of Nick's skills, making me unable to keep his job or fight effectively. And thus far the Golden Age campaign doesn't have anyone that can get us switched back... Rock Bottom: I've got his physical brain, right? As that's kind of needed for some of the powers for certain characters. I've just had a radical change in sexual orientation and apparent "race," in addition to becoming a living statue. I sure hope I can contact one of the GGU's supermages. Calculus: I'm now smart enough to figure out how to get *myself* back; the real difficulty will be covering the secret identity stuff, like dealing with Brian's wife. Kira Midori: "Aaagh! I'm a girl! Doctor Wyrd, help meee!" Again, the physical brain will cause some emotional dissonance.... Talion: "NOOOOOO!!!!" Sadly, Talion's life is just an exaggeration of my own.

Re: GGU NPCs For Review

Re: WWYCD? #80: Future Hope or Hellspawn? The Mask of Justice: As a Golden Age character, would be most disturbed by the implication that at least one of these people is the result of extramarital sex. His primary concern will be keeping both prospective mothers safe from their supposed offspring. Rock Bottom: "Thunderfist left *me* his kid(s)? Things must have been really desperate." He'll point out that by coming back and interacting with the past, both alleged children have already prevented the futures they come to protect.... Calculus: Would tend to believe the daughter, simply because he's already married to her mother. Kira Midori: "I never leave this primitive backwards century? Nooo!" Her precog should let her know when one of the kids is about to break cover. Talion: "You're telling me that Gorgeous Gal not only has voluntary sex with me, but is willing to bear my child? Hahahahahah! What a kidder! And *you're* claiming that Bad Girl has the hots for me? This is some kind of putup job, isn't it?" Of course, if both kids have some version of Talion's powers, any fight between them is going to be extremely painful to watch....

Re: WWYCD? #80: Future Hope or Hellspawn? Again, if the character is incapable of having children (either due to physical or psychological limitations) the kids were adopted, either from a teammate or a close associate.

Re: Crisis of Infinite Foxbats As long as we're on a manga kick.... Ninja Foxbat: Actually, just Freddy in an all-black outfit, with a katana that he can't actually use due to his CVK....and his constant narration kinda interferes with his stealth. Sailor Foxbat: After he mistakes "loony" for "the reincarnation of someone from the Silver Millenium." Fortunately, he finds the miniskirt is a bit drafty, so he quickly switches to Tuxedo Foxbat. With an invasion of demons on the rise, only melding a crazy person with the most powerful of demon lords will save us. Behold Devil-Foxbat! And then there's Freddy the Stampede and his infamous TriPingPongBallGun.

Your character is surprised one day by a cry of "Daddy/Mommy/Parental Unit! You're alive! I made it in time!" The speaker is an attractive and oddly familiar-looking young woman in a futuristic costume. She claims to be the character's daughter (adoptive daughter for characters who are incapable of having offspring.) According to her, she will be conceived in the next month or so from a reasonably plausible set of parents. Thanks to the character's upbringing of her, Future-Daughter has become a superhero in her own right. Unfortunately, she's made an enemy of a time-traveling villain, who she has learned came back to the past to prevent her from being born. Just as her spiel is winding down, there's a shout of "Dad/Mom/Parental Unit! Get away from her, quick!" This person is a young man in a similar costume, also oddly familiar-looking. He claims to be the character's (adoptive if necessary) son, by a slightly less-plausible set of parents. He explains that there are two possible futures, in one of which the daughter is born, and becomes the worst tyrant the world has ever known, and one where he's born instead. And her world is invading his, so he came back to reduce the probability of her timeline, freeing his Earth from her conquest. Both strangers have knowledge, genetic makeup, powers and skills compatible with being who they say they are. Neither mind can be read, as in both their futures, the menace of Menton or a similar villain made it necessary to install unbreakable mental shields (or so they claim.) Each of the strangers will attempt to promote his/her own conception and prevent the other, in between attacks on each other. So, how does your character handle this situation? SKJAM!

Re: What's the Big Difference? Surprisingly, Bulldozer turned out to be the one bright spot of her trip to Earth-P. He "cleaned up" remarkably well, and as a devout, modest young Christian gentleman who was saving himself for marriage, Bulldozer had a completely different approach to love and courtship than the shallow pretty boys Sapphire normally dated. (Defender was different, of course, but his attraction to Sapphire wasn't always obvious.) Sapphire found herself actually liking it--and him. Back home, Sapphire's latest plaintive ballad, "Wish He Was Here (Nice Guys Aren't Losers)" only got up to #11 on the charts, so she quickly put out "Drive Your Hot Rod Into My Tunnel of Love" to bring herself back up to #1. And she beat up Bulldozer really badly the next time they met. He was baffled by the religious tracts he found stuffed in his belt when he woke up.

Re: What Would Your Character Do? #79 Mask of Justice: Track down the Cartoonist and break his pen, automatically returning himself and all other affected objects to normal. Rock Bottom: "This is embarraskin'!" He'll have to hope the researchers at Johns Hopkins can find a cure, if his teammates can't find the Cartoonist. Calculus: "Fascinating. But if it can be done, it can be undone. Let me think...." Kira Midori: Looks even more anime than she does now. Good thing she knows an archmage. Talion: "Of course, the nature of my powers means that the exact same thing has happened to the Cartoonist (though he might not mind.) I sure hope my 'reset to normal' power kicks in soon."

Re: What would your character do...#78: It's Good To Be King? Mask of Justice: Presumably through his Secret ID, Nick Philips (nee Nikolas Philosophos), and it'd be in the neighborhood of Greece. Which means it's in danger of being overrun by the Axis. Therefore it is his duty to help this country in its time of need. (He'd kind of wonder why his still-living father wasn't picked for the job.) After the war, he'd work on installing an American-style representative democracy. {"The best system of government in the world!") Rock Bottom: Would have to turn the job down. He is in no way suited to be king, even as a figurehead. Calculus: Would have to get his wife's opinion, since he's not leaving America without her and the kid. That said, he's a supergenius, and could be very useful for running a country. Kira Midori: "Bow before your omniscient Queen!"..."Just kidding." She'd seriously consider it, especially (if as is likely) the alternative is installing a bad guy. Talion: "This is one of those year-king things, isn't it, where the king is sacrificed at the end of the year to ensure a good harvest? You're aware I can't die, right?" Highlights from Talion's reign: "So, never before in this country's 500-year history have the rutabaga and olive harvests failed in the same year? Interesting." "The diamond mines have run dry? How unfortunate." "What do you mean, this version of the Black Plague is untreatable by the usual methods?" "We're being invaded by Latveria, Qurac, Gomorra and Slobbovia? They're not even on the same Earth with us!" "Can anyone explain to me why there's a live volcano in the town square that wasn't there when I went to bed?"

Re: A Guide To Villainous Motivations Win the Love/Respect of (Other Character) The villian thinks that doing these awful things will make someone love/respect him. Some examples: Hawkeye was a villain for a short time because he had the hots for the Black Widow. (that, and the police had already mistaken him for a criminal.) Marvel's first Doctor Strange committed his crimes so that his daughter would have all the material things she wanted and love him. (Didn't work. In the grand tradition of villain's beautiful daughters, she betrayed him for the handsome hero.) The Molly Mayne version of the Harlequin committed crimes to get Green Lantern (Alan Scott) to notice her so she could romance him. One of Kalibak's long-term motivations is gaining the respect of his father, Darkseid. (He knows that love just isn't in the cards from his dad.)

Re: What would your character do? #77? Mask of Justice: Gee, it's kind of hard to top Nazi death camps. Nick's curiosity would lead him to investigate how and why his leader changed. Trying hard not to trigger a reversion, of course. Rock Bottom: "I don't want to know. Clearly there's been some sort of mistake." Calculus: Umm, that would mean that the character was a supervillain in preschool. Calculus isn't buying it. (Now, if the leader has turned evil since the time Calculus retired the first time, that's different.) Kira Midori: Would investigate carefully to make sure the evidence isn't faked. As a police officer, she would have to consult her superiors about what to do if it turns out to be true. Talion: "So gaining superpowers turned you good?" (His entire team gained their powers at the same time.)

Re: What's the Big Difference? Talion would certainly think of it, but with his multiple dice of Unluck, don't expect it to arrive with him. SKJAM!

Re: What Would You Do?? #76 Mask of Justice: As with the Dawn Ages scenario, his powers might no longer work. But since without them he's a two-fisted pulp adventurer, Nick should have no trouble finding a niche as a defender of justice somewhere, and marrying a princess. With his powers, MoJ would be *the* man to call when evil illusionists and shapeshifters are suspected. (He'd also be a terrific thief, were it not for his uprightness.) Rock Bottom: How are living statues treated in Aarn? How about men who love other men? He could be either very popular, or very despised. Calculus: "If I got sent here by magic, it can be undone. Let me think." Might set up shop as a sage somewhere. Kira Midori: "What, again?" How are mind mages treated? She'd like to join the City Guard, if that's allowed. Talion: "I am not, I say again not undead. Please do not attempt to kill, turn or destroy me. It will only hurt you. ....Did you not hear one word I just said?" Cast buff spells on him for maximum fun.

Re: What's the Big Difference? And for my own characters: Mask of Justice: "Wait a minute--Hitler is President of the United States, and we're the Axis powers? That's constitutionally impossible!" Rock Bottom: "Homosexuality is punishable by death?" Calculus: "My identity is publicly known, and my wife divorced me, taking our son and forbidding me to ever see him again?" Kira Midori: New York City's legal system now operates like Mega-City One's (see Judge Dredd) and as a member of the ESPolice, Kira's counterpart is one of the most feared people in the city. Talion: On Earth-P, Talion is The Greatest Hero On Earth . He's the respected and nearly revered leader of the Defenders of Justice, there's a Talion Museum in his home town, an annual Talion Day with tickertape parade, etc. He's a millionaire in his secret identity (which remained intact in this world) and is dating the local equivalent of Wonder Woman. The hellish bit? He has to go home to his real life after a week.

Re: What Would Your Character #72 (or so) My own characters, for the obvious reasons. Mask of Justice: "I think we Earthlings should take care of our own problems, thanks." (And why aren't they over smashing the Axis?) Rock Bottom: (It's the Global Guardians! They'd never steer me wrong!) "Yes!" Calculus: "Yes, if you can help protect my family." He's already pretty sure one of his former teammates is leaking information to the enemy. Kira Midori: "Have you come into contact with any jade skulls or similar objects recently?" Her mind probe indicates they're sincere, but still.... Talion: "I can't say I'm surprised they're untrustworthy. It's She-Cat, isn't it? But excuse me for saying this, don't the Defenders of Justice have a vow never to kill? You can't seriously be asking me to join."

Re: What would your character do #~75 Mask of Justice: Kind of suspected that of Hitler all along. Hopefully he can help bollix the Nazi leader and his Thule Society's spells. Rock Bottom: "Uh, do we know the number of any archmages?" Calculus: Will work out a way to trick the leader into breaking his contract with the dark forces, allowing the problem to clean itself up. Kira Midori: "This is why we have a mage on the team, though if the dark forces are vulnerable to my Christian faith, so much the better." Talion: "So what else is new? Looks like I'm going to be spending a few decades in prison for treason."

Re: What would your character do #74 (or so):Gift of Power? Mask of Justice: Be amazed that apparently the Greek gods do exist after all, so maybe he *did* get his powers from them. That processed, he'd check over the rolls of the Junior Justice Club for a worthy recepient, such as a brave crippled newsboy. Rock Bottom: Most likely there's a fireman or police officer who was disabled in the Blood Red King's attack some years ago. They'd be Rock's first choice. Calculus: Slugger's uncle. Hands down. (Former athletic hero Olympian, crippled by a supervillain.) Kira Midori: Will hold on to it for just the right person. She has precognitive abilities, she'll know. Talion: "Why should I curse anyone else with superpowers?" He'll toss it into the nearest large body of water, or otherwise dump it.

Re: What Would Your Character Do? #73 Mask of Justice: "Explain on the way, then." Rock Bottom: "Hey, I'm a science major, you can tell me." Calculus: "Prototype, you know I need more data so I can work out where he'd be building this thing." Kira Midori: Uses a mind probe to get at least a vague idea of what the gadgeteer is on about. Talion: "Whatever."

Re: What would you character do... The Mask of Justice: "This must be a Nazi plot!" Assuming they give press conferences, Nick Philips will be there to check out what these so-called "heroes" are really like under their masks. Rock Bottom: Given these folks must somehow have gotten the Global Guardians out of the way (or they'd already be cooling their heels in supercells), there's not a lot Rock can do except keep the peace in Baltimore. If his team leader decides that the New Guard has to fight these thugs, Rock will get religion again (the last Baltimore team was all killed because they recklessly attacked someone way nastier than they were.) Calculus: "I'll need all the information you have on these people. They must have a weakness." Kira Midori: If they come within her jurisdiction, she'll attempt to arrest them. But she'd rather work with a nice large superteam on the effort. Talion: "Yo! You, tough guy! I hear your mother (horrible slur that can only be answered by death.)" He can survive having his spine removed through his nose, can they?

This started out as a "What Would Your Character Do?" but I think it's a little more interesting this way.... Your character is contacted by his/her/its counterpart from Earth-Parallel. That person explains, "I've been injured/called off-planet/stuck with jury duty, and the criminal element/my teammates/my girlfriend mustn't discover that I'm gone. I happen to know that you, my nearly identical duplicate, have a few days free, so can you take my place?" As your character is responding, but before it's clear if the answer is yes or no, the counterpart says, "Great! I knew you'd agree!" and activates the transferral device, which will wear off in seven days. Your character now finds his/her/itself in the counterpart's world. However, the counterpart forgot to mention one difference between your character's life or the world's history that will make your character's life hell for the next week. So the question: What is that big difference? (Okay, other than the counterpart being a jerk.)