Karma

Re: What's in a Name? "Report" said the luetenant, "I thought you said you had a hostage situation" "We did" said the officer "there were at least 6 of them, all armed with automatic weapons. I called you and the next thing this guy from over at the department store walks in. I tried to stop him but he brushed me off. Then theirs this gunfire and I think the kid's dead for shore. Only then theirs nothing, no gunfire, no demands, and then the bank patrons come out and tell me how the kid came in and used like paper and stuff to protect himself and them and then like bundled up the bank-robbers nad wrapped them in paper and even put a bow around it and all. Then he just walked out the back door." "Did anyone hear him say anything?" "Yeah, one of the witnesses heard him as he came in." "What did he say?" "I'll just wrap this up and be on my way." Next- Torch Song

Re: WWYCD: Give us your huddled masses. For the sake of argument: There have been rumors of these aliens (who have never been encountered or even seen (they produce an image of the ruling race (mulato humans in this case) to conduct negotiations) visiting other planets. Some planetary governments have declined and the aliens have left them 'to destroy their own world', sometimes only certain governments will agree to which the aliens say 'you are one planet all must agree' and the planet either does or does not, and sometimes the planet agrees. In the latter case the aliens make the swap, the planet becomes a Utopia for a time before the remaining people destroy it through war and greed, the people become weak enough for another alien race (different each time (closest usually) to invade (Utopia doesn't breed warriors) or the decreased breeding stock on the planet leads to the race dying out. There is no confirmed reports of any Utopia continuing indefinately, and no reports from these aliens as to their attitude to the matter.

Dr Destroyer threatens the world yet again, this time with an orbitting space station which he claims will allow he and his lackeys to maginfy their powers to globe spanning levels. A team of superheroes know as the Benevolent Seven was last seen heading for the space station. A few hours later everyone in the world hears the same message in their heads. "We, the Benevolent Seven, have become unhappy with how ther governments of the world have been acting in recent years. We have therefore decided to use our abilities, now magnefied to global levels, to rule the world in their stead." Suddenly a shield of force covers the sky then every WMD on the planet disappears. A minute later excess food disappears from First World stores and appears in houses in the poverty stricken areas of the world. Every person in the world is instantly cured of any malady they have and criminals disappear off the street and appear in prison. What does your character do?

Yet another group of aliens arrive, technologically superior but with no offensive capability (but enough defensive capability to protect them from anything earth can throw at them) they make the governments of Earth an offer: Technology to remove world hunger, undo all damage to the biosphere that has been caused to it by humanity thus far and allow humanity to continue without harming it any more, and just about anything else that would be required to turn Earth into a Utopia. As part of their benevolent program they will take all humans unable to care for themselves (read those living in poverty), all criminals (including the populations of all detention facilities), and anyone else that the governments of Earth deem 'unacceptable citizens of the new Utopia' into their ships. What will be done with them is never discussed. Dictators are already publically taking advantage of the opportunity to get rid of 'undesireable elements' and, despite the local government claiming they want nothing to do with this the characters are noticing a drop in the number of minorities, homeless, and people of Middle Eastern origin. They are also having to stop less crimes... So what would your charatcer do?

Re: WWYCD: The "Mars Needs Women" Senerio... Having been warned of this attack by Fore-Eye's precognition (unless the aliens have some way of curcumventing it) the Prophecied will be ready for the kidnappings. Warnings will already have been sent to all those capable of facing this threat and the government will already have been warned of the possible increase in power of third world dictatorships via the Tech for breeding stock program. Of the characters of the team Statuesque would have the least problem with the whole scenerio (unless they came for her). As a formerly happy slave herself she would see no problem with the idea of women being sold as breeding stock. She would assume that the women would be lavished with gifts if they did their jobs properly and might be a little less supportive if she found this not to be the case. As for the kidnappings, those she'd oppose. That kind of thing was bad enough back in Ancient Greece when the gods were doing it, this is supposed to be a more civilised time. Swift would attempt to set up contact with the aliens who she would hope (given their closeness to human genetics) were not totally rancid. She would put forth the idea of creating a matchmaking service between aliens and humans with the hope of one day improving both races genetics for the better (the fact that such a program would turn her into a living paradox would kind of amuse her). If the aliens kept attempting to kidnap and enslave the women of earth she would shrug at the obvious loss of potential and put her efforts into stopping them. (As background Swift is the product of a trans-temporal breeding program created to strengthen the breeding stock of future humanity). As a group the Prophecied would work against the 'Slaves for Tech' program and leave the overt kidnappings the the heavy-hitters/army.

Re: What in genre bit do you like that no one else seems to enjoy ? Haven't run or played in many Champions games so I've never had anyone say how silly the stuff I like is (had a few of my friends change the subject when it goes to superheroes in general, but no specific part of the genre). So I'll just add what I don't like (these are my issues, and I have no problem with those who like them apart from disgreeing with their preferences): 'Patriots as heroes': Sorry but the 'Champion of (insert country, concept, subculture)' idea just rubs the wrong way. Cosmically powerful heroes: When you have your home planet as a DNPC and it's seen as fine (since your opponents can reasonable threaten it on a regular basis) I think the campaigns power level has got too high. For me heroes should be close enough in power to actual normals that they can have the same problems (plus those their powers give them). The 'VPP ability': Characters who have just the spell/gadget/whatever that they need in a given situation for no discernable reason (Thankfully I had some anti-torpedo spray in my undershorts). Who needs preparation, or teammates for that matter when you always have what you need, when you need it. These are the tropes I can't handle.

Re: WWYCD: The Basics Fore Eyes: having spent the past hour (before he was asked to do so) going over possible ways to get the cat out of the tree safely pulls out the canary sends it into the air and then catches the stupid furball as it pounces at it and falls. Silently hands spitting hellion to owner and heads home to treat the infected scratches on his face. Hardball: Shrugs. Picks up rock. Waits just long enough to scare old lady into thinking it's going to be a repeat of that scene from 'Police Academy'. Momentarily considers it. Decides not to. Hits cat's branch just close enough to scare cat out of tree. Catches cat. Hands cat over. Walks off. Caress: Calls fire department. Fauna: Asks cat why it's up there. If there is perfectly good cat reason, walk off. If not help the cat find the safest way down using a combination of cat instinct and human intelligence. If all else fails offer to catch cat as it jumps. Asks cat how old lady treats it, if unsatisfied leaves *with* cat, otherwise hands cat to old lady.

Re: WWYCD: An Alien among them Fore Eyes: Having forseen this, but not a way to avoid it, Fore Eyes pulls out the prepared cards with phrases like "Do not Panic", "I am not a threat" and "Please direct me to the proper authorities" on them (He 'does' have Universal Translation, but only of text). He keeps the more useful ones ("Please direct me to the restroom", "How much for this item->", etc. for his long quest to get home). Hardball: Runs to find somewhere to hide before the authorities turn up (he has no desire to be locked up even for his own safety). Spends the following days and weeks getting aclimatised and then tries to make the best of a bad situation. Continues patroling, may become a local hero or a wanted felon because of it.

Re: What would your character think about.... Fore Eyes: Can see how Lucas used the Hero's Journey trope to structure his story arc and thinks that's kind of cool. Thinks Luke in 'Jedi' (with the black outfit) is cooler than farmboy Luke. Sees 1-3 and thinks Lucas should be shot for ruining a pefectly good trilogy by rehashing it's plots in the 'prequel'. Hates Jar Jar with a vengence, thinks the C3PO/R2D2 pairing should have been the 'comic relief' in all the movies. Thinks that anyone with Precog should be more logical about it than Anakin. Hardball: Liked the first ones when they came out. Sometimes pretends his baseball bat is a light saber in private (would never admit it though), thinks Han Solo is a freakin' legend. Wanted to date Leia,and was very happy when she and Solo got paired up in 'Jedi'. None of the prequals dealt with Han Solo so he thinks they suck, apart from the cool lightsaber battles. Caress: Pieces of patriarchal claptrap. Why is it Luke that has to 'save their father'? Leia's a better person all round than him, she should have been the 'new Jedi' not that twit of a farm-boy. The only thing that redeams the movies is that in all of them the main female characters are a whole lot cooler than the males (Leia was the best thing in 4-6 and Padame was so much cooler than any of the men in 1-3, that she chose that sop Anakin is beggers belief.)

Re: WWYCD-Hurricane Katrina I made a similar complaint when someone on another RPGs board created a thread about an Evil Mastermind with a Tsunami machine only a week after Boxing Day. His response is that sometimes people like to imagine they could have done something, and if thety can't that at least the fictional character's they play could. Kind of Cathasis. I told him to stuff off. Still there is a precedent in comics (since 9/11) of trying to determine what the 'favorite heroes' would do when faced with the situation. I'm not sure how long it was after 9/11, but a number of people wrote WWMCD posts about what their character would do in the same situation. I gotto agree about the timing though. Maybe we want to lay off this thread for a few weeks.

Re: WWYCD: Let the Hunt Begin!! The Destined: Five minutes in the team is looking at Fore Eyes as he works out the quickest and safest route using his precognician. The He shouts "Follow Me" and the group sets off. Skarn takes off after them only to discover that they have avoided all traps and pitfalls and have made it out sucessfully. Hardball: Would make a valient attempt to escape and be killed (we're talking Skarn here). Caress: Would attempt to ambush and mind control Skarn and die in the attempt.

Re: What Would Your Character's City Be Like? Fore-Eyes: An old world city with a deep sense of history. Side streets filled with cosy cafe's and bookshops. A huge main library that you can get lost in. Most importantly a city edict that requires that a clock tower be visible from every outside point in the city, at least during the day. However along with these positives would come an equally old world criminal empire whose fingers stretch throughout the globe and who only a man with the ability to see the future will be able to stop controlling it. Hardball: Harsh, modern, a city whose glitz and glamour hide a rotten underbelly steeped in the worst humanity has to offer. The kind of place that's great to visit if you keep to the tourist traps and don't go exploring. Where the police are either too corrupt or too incompotent to care about the disappearances that happen daily. The kind of city that needs a hero who as harsh and unforgiving as it is. Caress: Beautiful and glamourous, but rotten at the core. A city ruled not by those who publically do so, gaining the public's trust with 'beautification projects' and 'civic improvement' but by those who pull their strings, their mistresses. Where the "women of the night" control their own trade. Sin City with less violence and *no* misogyny. The kind of city where she who controls with a touch can rule from the shadows.

Re: Worst Fear! Fore Eyes: Goes blind or becomes unable to control precognition and constantly sees the worst of all possible futures. Hardball: Is back in prison faced by a gang of Mafia Dons and unable to use his powers. Caress: Is a man or the slave of one. Kookaburra: Is in an asylum for the criminally insane. Marionette: Is once more under her father's control.

D-l337 L337 is an even more pretentious way of typing 'LEET' (which, if you didn't know, is what those hackers who think theiy are amoung the elite iin their field call themselves) so D (Dee) + L337 (Leet) = Delete See make sense once you think about it.

Re: What's in a Name? Few people know what to make of the heroine who has come to be known as 'Oxymoron' everything about her seems to contradict expectations. She is a plain looking superheroine, an uneducated gageteer, an out of shape martial artist, a selfish hero. The truth of her tale is that Karen Jones, 40 something high school drop-out is the inheretor of a heric mantle that has been passed on since the time of chilvalry. She was taking a tour of Millenium City when, in her ignorance, she turned down the wrong alley and was set upon by a group of thugs. Suddenly a masked superhero swung down from the roof to defend her. Unfortunately it turned out to be a trap, and while the masked man managed to fight off all his attackers, he did so at the cost of his life. Karen went over to see if she could help her savior, who suddenly looked her in the eyes and said in an ominous voice "The fight for justice must continue". Suddenly Kaen was inundated with the knowledge of many generations of heroes (she is the first female chosen, and was so only out of despiration (the gift is kind of chauvanistic) including knowledge of many martial arts and the creation of superscience gadgetry. She has taken on the mantle of 'hero' reluctantly (mostly to shut up the voices in her head) and as much as she has tried to get the media to call her 'Madam Smasher' (much to the chagrin of her inner voices) they have dubbed her 'Oxymoron'. She doesn't even know what it means, but she's sure it's an insult. Still, it's a living (since she charges those she saves $100 cash, if they have it, otherwise whatever cash the have). The heroes she carries within her only hide their head in shame and hope that the next person to take up the mantle is a man a little more their style. Next up: D-L337 (pronounced Delete)

Re: Comics are getting too steamy... And it helps sales, why would a kid buy a typical G comic when he can have an M rated comic and all the naughtyness that goes with it?

Re: What's in a Name? Lauren Freely had spent her life as a nobody, a middle child with an older sister more attractive and a younger sister more intelligent than she could ever be. She would lie awake at night wishing she could be more like them, or like anyone but herself. She got her wish when she came across an old mirror in a corner store. she took it home and while looking in it caught sight of her older sister and once again wished she were as beautiful, suddenly the image of her sister in the mirror merged with her own and suddenly there were two identical reflections in the glass. Her sister screamed and ran to fetch their mother. Lauren wished she were herself again, but this time the mirror refused to co-operate. Her little sister came in to see what the commotion was and Lauren wished she were as intelligent as her so she could think of a way to extract herself from the situation, once more the refections merged and Lauren became the sitting image of her younger sister, and as she had wished, gained her IQ. Unable to see a better solution she decided to run away and try to find a way to return to her original state. She continues her quest, but in the mean time she has become a super identity thief and power mimic, able to mimic the appearance, abilities (and she has discovered, genetic structure) of any person whose image she can catch in her mirror. Naturally she has become known as 'Mirror Image' . Next contestant: The Speaker.

Re: What's in a Name? "Stand Down, foul fiend" shouted the newcomer "Or face my wrath" "And what wrath might that be little man?" asked the supervillian "Whatr does SD stand for anyway" "Self- Destruct, it stands for. For I am Captain Self Destruct" "So if I don't stand down you'll blow up and kill us all, is that it? Great ability" "That's not exactly it, you do not to test me Villian" The villian looked at the weak looking man who seemed to big for his britches, he looked at the money, and he ddecided to risk it. He could probably soak any damage this fool dealt out with his self destructive attack. Suddenly the villian arm shot up into his face, breaking his nose. Then he punched himself in the kidney before hitting himself in the worst place possible. "Stop hitting yourself" said Captain Self-Destruct "or don't. See I warned you. Why is it that people can't understand that I have the ability to turn their powers against them? 'Self Destruct'! Can I make it any plainer?" Next up: Brain-teaser

Re: A time-portal opens... Rose: Daughter of Thorn created when he used one of his many pollen's in a fight as a rose maze. Unlike her father she sees no reason to be homocidal and tries to work in a peaceful fashion for vegitable rights. Of course she's not above using her own pollen to convince certain individuals of the worthiness of her cause, and thanks to her the deforestation and that goes on so often today is no longer a problem in the future/alternate universe. Nightmare: Daughter of Hellrider (From Arcane Adversaries) and Scarlet (From Dark Champions: TAS) created when, in a uncharateristic (and somewhat worrying) show of mercy Mephestopheles allowed Hell Rider one final night of passion with the heroine who had convinced him to give up his quest for vengence and damned him to immediatly go to Hell. While only 1/4 demon she has inhereted both her mothers demonic powers and her fathers weaponary and steed (which for some reason Meph left behind with Scarlet). She continues to worry why the Lord of Temptation allowed her to be concieved, let alone why he allows her to use his demonic equiptment to fight evil. Her greatest goal is to save her father from Hell.

Re: Character monologues I generally only do 'character monologues' in PBEM games. I feel it's better than simply posting your character's actions and can give the other players a feel for your character. I especially like doing it in PBEM's where players are allowed to add the actions and thoughts of other people's characters and NPC's to their posts (as long as they stay within the predetermined boundries of the character. IOW no having someone elses character act 'out of character' (although you can have your own do so, which keeps people wondering). Some people might accuse me of being a post-hog, but I like my posts to be interesting and : Hardball comes in through the doorway and hits the thug. is far less interesting than: Hardball creeps into the room. Around him he sees his team mates. Jockboy Titan, the brick of his group, has already layed out two thugs "Typical" thinks Hardball "We could have sneaked in and avoided all this trouble, but Jockboy had to go and play hero. With this noise whoever is behind this will know we're here and have placed the hostages in a 'inescapable death trap' by the time we reach him. What is it about teenages and subtlety?" He sneaks up behind one opf the tugs looking at the fight and beans him with a baseball bat.

Re: What's in a Name? The Smoke Ghost You know the old saying: "Where there's smoke..." Well for Jaydan Reynolds, AKA The Smoke Ghost, that's wrong. Dead Wrong. Ever since that first fire, the one that claimed his old life Jaydan has made it his mission to see all arsonists and their work go 'up in smoke'. The suit he wears was originally designed to simply act as a barrier between his horribly burned skin and the outside world which could cause him pain and infection. He's improved it however, improving it's defensability, especially against the effects of heat and flame, and adding microtized smoke projectors and various forms of flame retardent (some of which double as close combat weapons). Now the fire-fighters welcome and the arsonists fear the figure that walk in the smoke, the figure of 'The Smoke Ghost'. (I've always wanted to create a super firefighter, thanks) Next contestant: Magenta

Re: What's in a Name? Loquitur (short for 'Res Ipsa Loquitur') is the alias of DA Samuel Greeves, whose dedication to justice has seen him take up extra-legal extra-currcular activities. Unlike many vigilanties however, Loquitur targets not only criminals but their solicitors, especially those who are, through legal trickery, able to get aquitted clients whose crimes are so blatant and guilt so obvious that only legal trickery could see them get off. Mafia bosses who gun down rivals in public, armed robbers whose entire crimes are videotaped, child molestors caught in the act. These people and those who defend them successfully in court have much to fear from the man whose name means 'the thing speak for itself'. Next up: Blue Genes

Re: What's in a Name? The being known as Agent What is the second in a line Psychomorphic Biomechanisms (beings able to impersonate not only the physical characteristics of it's target, but also their mental charactersitcs making them theoretically impossible to detect, even by psychics but whose lack of a soul makes them stick out like a beacon to various forms of mystical detection) created by an unnamed shady government agency (it avoids scrutiny) for use in espionage. After the debacle of the first model's escape and entry into the 'freelance market', the second model, Agent What, was fitted with a 'loyalty implant' which makes it uncapable of having 'dangerous thoughts'. This makes it less flexible that its older sibling, but just as incapable of moral judgement. Its first mission is to track down it's escaped sibling and destroy it with extreme prejudice. It's second will be to take the place of POTUS and give it's masters even greater control of the free world... Next up: Mr. Lonely.

Re: What's in a Name? I got nothing. Possibly if we keep this up we should try to keep to names that are words in English, or at least that a majority of people who speak English might know the meaning of (the idea being to create a character whose powers/schtick is based on the name/word). Still Azurarch sounds like it might mean blue something. So maybe a PA hero who wears a blue suit. Maybe take it to a greater limit and have his lazers create blue light and maybe he could have some kind of ocean theme. Yeah, a blue PA French Canadian or French hero (I beluieve Azurarch is a French word) who use his powers to protect the ocean from those who would despoil it or threaten those who live near it. Uses blue/green lazers as primary weapons given their ability to be used underwater. Next up: Tone Deaf

Re: What's in a Name? "Your a loner, always have been. Many teams have asked you to join, but you prefer to be your own super. Yet sometimes you feel like you could do with some back-up. Not another full fledged heavy hitter, but someone who could take up the slack. Someone to beat up the mooks while you go after the real threat. If this sounds like you then I am just the person you are looking for. Call me on 555-SIDEKICK." Ron looked at the add. It sort of said what he wanted to. Now he only had to wait. Well, when your superpower is the ability to duplicate any one willing persons powers and skills at half their power level, how else are you going to get into the 'game'? whoops, almost forgot (which is silly since it was my idea in the first place). Next up: Snow Blind