Rikathos

Re: In need of a good origin story An explorer/Mountain Climber who upon reaching the summit of the Himalayans(sp) or your own creation is caught in the tail of a comet passing close to earth. OR... People have been sighting Hermes and other God like beings. They were known for mingling with Mortals. Perhaps He/She is the product of that. Caught between the mortal world and the gods. OR... Picture a Kid who helps his Father who is a curator of a Museum. The Father is taken hostage by criminals robbing the Museum Meanwhile... The Kid was busy opening crates that just arrived from Greece?...he finds a dusty old pair of strange sandals...It is then he hears his father in distress! A voice booms in his head to put the sandals on. And...Tadah!

Re: Champs Worldwide: Whaddya want? Perhaps a Map indicating where Major Super-Hero battles have been fought that have changed the Geography. Or a Map indicating where Major Villians or Major groups operate. Perhaps have a Map that would be a common knowledge map with a general idea where the Villians operate and then a GM only Map that has where the Hideouts are specifically. Perhap's you could give an example of exotic spots where Super Villians, Masterminds, and Cult leaders have their Hideouts? How about a Examples of what one could encounter at these lairs? I know in some of the Fantasy games when one type of Monster is killed off or exterminated from its lair another will come along and take it over. Perhaps there is a forgotten lair or Base of Professor Muerte that is being used by Coil or some international group or Villian. Maybe the Base has a history.

Re: Champs Worldwide: Whaddya want? well..more "Or a pack of werewolves that defend region." Oye. Someone set us up the bomb. How about A Pack of Werewolves that defend THE region. Anyway that's a cool idea. Give us the Slavic/Russian Wolf-men and Women. Maybe they made a deal with a Gypsy Witch during the Late 30's for power to defend against the invading Nazis. Now, either they're children or they themselves still live on defending THE region.

Re: Champs Worldwide: Whaddya want? Sorry overcome with Synaptic Geek surge. Descendant. I just have to use it 3 more times and its MINE! All Mine!! Mohahahahaha!!

Re: Champs Worldwide: Whaddya want? well..more Whoa! Horror theme characters would rock! Transylvania!! Yeah! But instead of villians...perhaps its a super group or super being trying to correct the mistakes of the regions ancestors. A New Frankenstein's monster? Or A pack of Werewolves that defend the region. Or a descendant of Dracula who has the interests of the area at heart.

Re: Angel, the worst original character concept ever? Falcon all the way. And if we are going to rate Winged heroes lets not forget Nighthawk(Defenders version) and Red Raven. I'm sure there is another Winged Marvel hero I am forgetting..Mimic? Nah technically not winged on his own....Sub Mariner?..Technically winged. And although I love the flat headed Atlantean-halfbreed The ankle wings..silly. Which makes me wonder why an Atlantean has wings on his ankles but then I digress. Its Comics! Is There anyone else?

Re: Conventional Explosives: PD or ED? I would have to say PD if it is a standard conventional explosive. Its the concusive force rather than the heat of the explosion which kills. The Explosives effect is obviously up to the GM and the situtation and just how twisted and warped the GM's childhood was.

Re: Angel, the worst original character concept ever? Not to beat a dead horse with a rubber chicken here.. But as stated before by whom I am not precisely sure... I think the cool level or depth of Angel is in a direct relationship with the Writer. Warren Worthington has his layers and I think it depends on how the writer depicts him. And also already mentioned its the depth of character and the possibilities of the character's traits interacting with others that can make him or her interesting. If all he had was wings. Yeah that would be pretty 1 dimensional. However as many Marvel writers fail to do is research the characters. Find out about the characters past. Work with it as a basic structure. Warren has gone from being the Rich kid that didn't belong to losing his wings and becoming the pawn of Apocolypse(However they spell it.) He had to recover from that and blue skin I might add to then have his wings grow back. I think the X-Men need a Mutant Psychoanalyst to help with the Legion of issues the X-babies have. So Warren has scars lots of scars. But being its Marvel I'm sure they will re-write him and screw the past. Cause its all about making your mark and not writing a good story. If you dislike Angel so much..What are your thoughts on Falcon? His Wings are gadget based and his claim to fame is being Cap's sidekick, An Avenger, and a Social worker. Except for the obvious differences how is he different from Angel? He's a guy that can fly. But...As shown by Priest in Captain American and Falcon he can be rather complex and interesting and a down right bad ass. If you haven't checked it out, and you like to follow the advice of strangers I recommend it as a good read.

Re: Angel, the worst original character concept ever? I think the point of having Angel besides being the only Character in the group that had a movement power might have been the his relationship with his parents. He came from a rich family, he had good looks and charm. He was going to go places be somebody by societies standards. Except for the Large White Wings that sprouted from his back. That made him a mutant and a freak. However, the irony was that the White wings added to his image. Here was a guy who looked like an "Angelic" figure but was seen as a threat to society. Harmful. (I guess if he really had to "Go" while flying around..that could be considered harmful. "Jesus! That must have been one big Seagull!") Joking aside Angel had a rocky relationship with his Father due to the Wings. Creating drama for Warren and helping the audience relate to him. I believe the original appeal of the X-Men came from Teenagers who where growing up trying to find where they fit in dealing with Physical and emotional changes to themselves. Perhaps the Writers believed that the audience could relate to Angel. And besides...He isn't as lame as Cypher (Wave's at Sketchpad ) I'm a mutant who can interpret languages. Yeah, guess who's guarding the base? Rikathos

Re: Aquaman: WTF? Hmmm much like the regrettable changes to Spiderman..this discussion seems to be mutating... Anyway being the new kid on the block so to speak. (takes a moment to powerdrill the memory of the deplorable song "Hanging tough" from his cranium) There are plenty of other Heroes out there that do not adhere to the laws of "Science" and are plenty lame I might add. So back off the Golden-haired Atlantean. Besides getting grim, what did he ever do to you except mystify you with his ability to talk with fish? That's like being mad at Superman cause he can fly. He just can its part of the concept. Believe in the power of fiction! and while we are discussing comic characters... Somebody help me here.... Marvel in there infinite wisdom have taken Wolverine (Who quite frankly is WAY overused as a character. Yes he is cool in certain doses, but I am sick of Marvel's use of the character to quickly boost sales. Quick have the hero or heroes meet wolverine so he can slice things and make with the witty one liners. Brilliant!!) and cloned him, BUT its a girl with two claws and she's a teenager cause angsty sells and will appeal to a younger market. And this is new and creative? All things a side and keeping on topic. Aqua Man. Not lame, very cool. Except for the Bad..Bad Sixties cartoon. Ghost Rider's head flames in Space because of Hellfire, Mysticism, Magic. And as we all know Magic/Mysticism trumps Science in the comic world. Doc Strange can use the Eye of agomotto and other mystical objects cause he is The Sorcerer Supreme. So he can. And my only other comment.. Make mine J.M. Stracynski's Spiderman. Where Peter doesn't mutate into talking with Spiders. Cause if the Character's sales are flagging and you can't really fit Wolverine in...Make him a Mutant! Yeah..that's it...Yeah! Wait but we need more Angst!! Make Mary Jane a Mutant!! Yes!! That's it!! And due to her Red hair she can talk to the Color Red!! And..And Supermodels!! Supermodels? Yeah, their kind of like Aliens or Spiders..Wait!! She can talk to Spider Supermodels!! Brilliant!! and and!! Then Wolverine Shows up!! Yeah? What's he going to do? Slice things!! Brilliant!! Rikathos

Re: Champs Worldwide: Whaddya want? Bah, I confused Argentina with Brazil. What a dope. Nazi's. You want comic book evil devoid of moral gray areas Nazi's. Children of the Nazi's, Hitler in a robotic body. Whatever. All kidding aside about Scandinavia...Land of the Vikings. What could be waiting in its icey reaches to fell all mankind. Or at least give your heroes an ancient mystical wedgie. And heroes! Scandinavian heroes! Ice powered heroes, Perhaps in the vein of Hercules you could have Modi or Magni (Sons of Thor) defending the lands. A Super group called the Aesir. Perhaps a Scandinavian version of Primus. Instead of Golden and Silver Avengers...they are all Women agents called Valkyries. Or perhaps there is a region like Marvel's "Savage land" That houses all sorts of Norse mythological creatures like Giants for example.

Re: Champs Worldwide: Whaddya want? Call me old fashioned but I think I would like a little old with the new. I haven't delved deeply into many of the new source books yet. So if I retrace ideas already out there forgive me. Nazis...Cliched but when you need bad it could have been influenced by surviving Nazi's or be Nazi's. Be it a hidden city in the Rainforest(what's left of it) in Brazil or the frigid reaches of the Arctic, or Hitler's brain in a jar. Sketch Pad mentioned Shamrock it would be neat to seem him again. There must be some other disgrunted Irish villians about, as well as Heroes. And I agree with Worldmaker...How about some Middleeastern Heroes. Of course their cultures idea of a hero and ours will have differences. I think that would be fun to explore. The Former Soviet states could be ripe with ideas, Mercenaries, Heros', Capitalist Hero's, The Russian Mob. And South East Asia from India to China, Korea, Japan, Thailand..all of them. Please Please Please!! The possibilities are endless. Africa could have some interesting possibilites for Heroes and Villians. Perhaps this sounds campy or blasphemous but what about the Vatican? The Mosad could have super agents. An Italian Hero group could be interesting. There is a lot of History that could be drawn from it. Speaking of Italy... What about Greece and to that point... I've been writing up this idea for my campaign and maybe this has been covered. But what about the Ancient mythology of the different regions. For simplicities sake The Classic Greek and Norse Mythology. What if these beings were still around? What if they viewed being a Hero or Villian as a way to regain the adulation and love or fear of Mortals again. Maybe this idea has been done already. Rikathos

Re: What Do You Look For In A City Setting? I guess it would depend on the type of campaign you are running. You would have to consider the type of role your heroes will play in the City. What kind of relationship will they have with the Authorities for example. How much time do you have to put in as much detail as you would want in your City? I like a mix of my own creations and existing cities. That way it gives you freedom to create what you want, but if you want to go with something established you can. Saving you time and allowing you to focus on the themes and general story of the Session if you so choose. When it comes to creating Cities I like to give it a history and its own location on the map. That way you can draw upon the culture and feel of the locale to create the feel and theme of your city. Is your city located in New England somewhere. Not only do you have an area rich in History you can draw upon H.P. Lovcraft or Stephen King to create a creepy underbelly to your city rife with the Supernatural and Occult. Back to my earlier statement about the Authorities. I like to fill in the important postions like Mayor and Police Chief to help detail the city and give it personality. Is the mayor crooked and working for organized crime secretly plotting the demise of the meddling Heroes? Is the Police chief torn between arresting the Heroes for working outside the law and at the same time appreciating how they've saved lives? I've looked at creating a city in detail as a quite daunting task. So many places and things to create. Aaaah! What I could suggest is creating adventures that highlight certain neighborhoods or sections of the City. So the characters can explore the city. Therefore you can make any number of NPC's you may need and keep them around as plot hooks, and as your collect adventures you've created your own City. Rikathos "..you could go off and rule the world from beyond the grave." "Indeed!" "Or check into a Psycho-ward which ever comes first huh?"