wrestlinggeek

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

Well.... as we all know, Kryptonians were heavily into cloning....

 

Or at least that would be the kind of approach I would take to explaining this. Of course the real answer was the "written for 8 year olds" one.

 

But then, a lot of this "written for 8 year olds" stuff sucked less than a lot of the more "mature" garbage coming out these days.

Yeah, but even when I was 8 years old, I thought it was kind of stupid. I at least wondered why he didn't have at least one of his robots active 24/7. More on topic: Secret IDs are a 4-color staple. Whether it works in the game or not depends on the campaign. In my games, all PCs either have a Public ID or a Secret ID. Just being a superhero makes you a public figure, and if you don't take at least some measure to disguise yourself, then anybody who is interested can find out who you really are: "You know Mr. Ultra? What was his real name again? Nevermind, I'll just Google it."

Re: Secret IDs: In or Out?

Keep in mind' date=' too, that while the means to discover identities today is extraordinary, comic-book superhumans can exceed what's realistically possible in these areas as they can in others. When you can become invisible, or move so fast as to seem invisible, or teleport instantly out of camera or satellite view, or instantly change your shape to look like anyone, or carry technological illusion-generators/radar scramblers/etc., or can crack any database to alter biographical details or forensic reports, or telepathically mindwipe someone who finds out your secrets, or create android duplicates or clones of yourself to cover for you, or have more money than God so as to pay or bribe anyone you need to do these things for you... well, in a comic-book universe these things are not only possible, they happen all the time.[/quote']

You know, I often wondered in the Silver Age, why Superman didn't make more use of his robots to conceal his secret ID. I mean, he had several robot duplicates with all his powers and several "Clark" robots with no powers. Or if not the robots, why not just release one of the several dozen Kandorians who looked just like him, restore them to normal size (which could be done for short periods),and let them cover for him. And while I'm on the subject, did anyone else ever wonder about the "Kandor Look-A-Like Squad?" I mean, there are several Kryptonians who look just like Superman and his friends and family, and they all just happen to live in Kandor? Come on!

Re: Super Teams Compete!

I could see an "officially" large, or even huge, super-group actually operating as several smaller "sub-groups." Look at any social group you've evr been part of. Let's take my experience in the Boy Scouts, as an example: There were about 60 of us in my Troop. However, I had 4 or 5 friends I hung out with all the time and worked with. There were other, similar "cliques" (for lack of a better term) in the Troop. There was some cross-over, and we all worked together on Troop projects, but when it came to socializing, it was usually just my buddies and me. I can see super-teams operating this way, perhaps with each "sub-team" even picking their own name.

Re: PCs are not the most important in the world

I'm liking what I have heard here so far. Now my dilemma is what to do with the existing team. There's no doubt that the combined JLA plus the Avengers is capable of dealing with just about anything so I'm not sure that I can just take em out in one fell swoop. Plus I have already had Cyclops from the X-men killed by the Joker for not having a sense of humor and I don't want this campaign to be TOO bloody.

Here's an idea that will allow you to either wipe them out, keep them busy for a long, long time, or greatly deminish their team roster: Darkseid gets a new piece of apparal. It's this golden Gauntlet with theses five Gems on the knuckles... (yes, I know it's been dome with Thanos, but he's a cheap Darkseid knockoff. This time, it's the real thing)

Re: The team that everyone forgot.

DC:

Guardian (Could be the Captain America of the DCU. Team Leader, great

fighter, and tons of experience.)

Jade (Green Lantern powers, cool personality.)

Captain Atom (One of the most powerful heroes in the DCU. But has often

been portrayed as a jerk, a joke, or both. Time to change

that.)

Jesse Quick (Only female member of the "Flash Family," and the most under-

used. And she and Jade can get the whole Flash/GL dynamic

going, with an estrogen twist.)

The Eradicator (Superman-level power and all the knowledge of Krypton.

Whatever happened to this guy?)

Geo-Force (Cool powers, interesting background, and a solid team-player.)

This is shaping up to be a pretty powerful, cool group. Somebody should write this.

Re: The team that everyone forgot.

Cool idea:

Marvel:

Nova (Richard Rider: Cool powers, cool attitude, and experience.)

Doc Samson (Brains and Brawn in one green-haired package. Plus unlimited

potential)

Iron Fist (Marvel's greatest martial artist)

Ms. Marvel (I think she's using that name again. She'd make a great tag-team

with Nova.)

Namorita (Nearly all the power of Namor, much better attitude, and a total

babe.)

Justice (Should probably be team leader. TK, Captain America-influenced

mentality, and a walking encyclopedia of super-humans.)

Wow, looks like half my Marvel choices are former New Warriors. I loved that series. The original, not the re-boot. Oh, and since I haven't read Civil War, who was on the badly-written, out of character Warriors team that got destroyed? The only one I've seen named was Night Thrasher, and he would never lead the team into the situation I read about on the boards.

DC team to be named in a later post.

Re: Just For Fun: Cartoon Network All Star Team Ups

Is it CC or Sci-Fi that ran Tripping the Rift? I can't think of anything that couldn't cross over with that and be weird.

 

Then again, it has the singular advantage of having a "hero" who is selfish, crude and obnoxious but still you find yourself liking the guy.

It's Sci-Fi. And I would love to see Johnny Bravo take on Darth Bobo.

Re: THE Uber Team

Am I limited to just 5? Alright, I'll narrow it down:

Team Leader: Captain America

Muscle: Superman

Brains: Mr. Fantastic

Magic/Psionics: Dr. Strangefate (from the Amalgam Universe)

Backup: Wonder Woman (she is the ultimate superheroine, and she can backup any of the first three in their specialty)

Re: Conversions...City of heroes?

My understanding (and I am not following it closely) is that it is still in-progress and is scheduled for release sometime next year.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully, by the time it comes out, I'll be able to afford it. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to take a look at it, and get an idea of how they are handling the translation.

Re: Conversions...City of heroes?

Slightly off-topic, but...

What ever happened to the CoH table-top game? Has it come out, did it go away, what? I haven't been able to find any information at all about it in a long time.

Re: Fictional Cities

Another vote for fictional cities, here. I've run games in both real and fictional cities, but since I am not well-travelled (at all), I find I have problems with players having been to cities I never have. But if you create your own cities, you can pull bits and pieces you like from different cities, and mix and match. Two of my favorites have been Seacoast, Texas and Campaign City (yes, I actually did use that name), Maryland. I also ran good games set in real world cities of Atlanta, Washington, D.C, and Los Angelas. The key, I think, in using real cities is to make sure you know as much or more about the city as any of your players.

Re: Comic Books VS. Graphic Novels/Collections

All TPB/Graphic Novels for me. I can't afford to buy comics every week. And I also get them from the library whenever I can. Which has actually gotten me to read a few things I otherwise wouldn't have.

Re: Would you play…

I've played in one game like this, before, and I offer three pieces of advice:

1) make sure the GM knows and likes the players.

2) let the players makem suggestions to the gm for power-sets.

3)don't drag out the "discovering your powers" phase for too long, unless that's the point of the whole campaign.

Re: Your favorite team flavor...

Well, this goes back to when I was actually still running Champions;

What I always wanted to run: Justice League

What my players always came up with: Mystery Men

And I don't mean Pulp-types. I mean like from the movie with William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, Janine Gerrafolo (sp?), Paul Reubens, etc. Drove me nuts. Now I'm trying to get a play-by-chat game going online with a Marvel Knights/ Batman Family vibe. Here's hoping.

Re: WWYVD - trapped between a rock and a hard place

So - there you are, trapped between an army of a few million orcs, and the Batman.

 

What Would Your Villain Do?

 

[Inspired by Kristopher]

Take my chances with Batman. If I surrender quickly enough, I might not even get beat up before he sends me to Arkham. With the Orcs, I'd get torn limb from limb while being given a size 13 poop-chute.

Re: Animation or Comics?

Jack Black as Green Lantern.)

Will not happen. If I have to use a high-powered rifle to make sure, this will not happen. Besides, all I'd heard was that he was "attached" to the project.

Re: Help with a character: She knows she's in a comic book

Before you do this, clear it not only with the GM, but with every other player. If I was in a serious Champions game, and somebody pulled this, I would go ballistic. It is one thing for a character to think they are in a comic book (that's just good, old fashioned insanity). But to actually be a comic-book character who realises it, and gets powers from it... in most games I would run or play in, that's just wrong. Unless it's a full-out comedy campaign. Just my $0.02

Re: Animation or Comics?

Ultimate Avengers is awesome. I think the only reason JLU beat it out in my mind is because they used almost every character in the DCU. Plus it was on the air for like 5 seasons compared with 2 dvds. I think straight-to-dvd animation will probably be the biggest medium for telling superhero stories in a few short years. Maybe not even that long. As proof, I give you Marvel's new animated films department, and DC's upcoming Superman, Justice League, and Teen Titans dvds. Plus with the dvds in the 15-20 dollar price range, and trade paper-backs (which are often a collection of 4-6 issues of a comic) in the same area, telling a story that's pretty much the same as what the movie can tell, it becomes a question of whether the audience would like to read a story with static illustrations or watch a story with animation. Personally, I like both. Besides, you can't watch a dvd while you're on the toilet (unless you have tv in the bathroom).

Re: Animation or Comics?

As with so many on this thread, I also must praise the animated DCU. Especially their handling of Batman. Superman was awesome, too, as well as Batman Beyond, and even Static Shock (which I paid much more attention to once they tied it in to the main DCAU). And JLU was (IMHO), the greatest animated series ever on television. And since movies have also been mentioned, the best Batman movie before Batman Begins was the animated Mask of The Phantasm.

Re: Just For Fun: Cartoon Network All Star Team Ups

It's already been shown that Dexter and the Power Puff Girls exist in the same universe. They should team up with Monkey, General Glory and the other Justice Friends to take on some Earth-threatening cosmic menace, possibly created when Mandark teamed up with Mojo Jojo.

Re: Just For Fun: Cartoon Network All Star Team Ups

OMG, that would be SO FUNNY!

 

BB: Dude, that babe with the bass guitar! She's -- she's....

Robin: She's -- well, how shall we put this --

Raven: Completely and utterly mad.

Robin: Those aren't the words I was looking for.

Hanako: Oh, I bet there were some other words you were looking for, you svelte hunk of --

Starfire: Little Hana?

Hanako: Cousin Star? What are you doing here?

Robin: Cousin? You mean as in you're related?

Starfire: That is the question I wish to ask. In addition I have another.

Hanako: Another?

Starfire: Yes, I do. Little Hana, I would very much wish to know WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE YOUR ******* HANDS OFF ROBIN, YOU SKANY-*** MAN-STEALING SLUTTY LITTLE *****?!?!?!?

(Everyone looks at Starfire as if they had just seen a small puppy tear a child into small pieces and eat it. Everyone, that is, except Hanako. A furious brawl ensues between the alien babes, with hanako swinging her bass guitar, Starfire sending out Starbolts in all directions and everyone else diving for cover.)

BB: Dude, I think it was a mistake to let her watch Deadwood.

Cyborg: Actually, I think it was those hip-hop videos that did more damage.

Robin: Titans, will you please stop arguing over censorship and do something to STOP THESE INFURIATED ALIEN WOMEN FROM TEARING ME TO PIECES?!?!

Cyborg: Say, is that the pizza delivery?

BB: Man, I hope they remembered my tofu-pepperoni and black olives pizza with soy cheese.

Cyborg: What kind of stomach do you have, Beast Boy? (the boys depart, leaving Robin alone in the middle of the war zone.)

Robin: Guys -- help? Please?

Raven: Sorry. If you need me, I'll be in the Dimensions of Ultimate Terror where it's safe. (she teleports out, leaving a helpless Robin stuck in the middle of The Catfight at the End of the Universe)

Starfire: COME BACK HERE AND TAKE YOUR ***-WHIPPING LIKE A WOMAN, YOU ******* HUSSY!

Hanako: Don't you know how to share?

Starfire: SHARE THIS, ****!

This is one of the funniest things I've read in weeks.

Re: The things you pick up from Cartoon Network

 

As for JLA and Teen Titans, I think DC wanted their intellectual property back, or a whole train load of moolah, so CN had little choice. Talk to the management of DC.

Actually, both DC and Cartoon Network are owned by Warner Brothers, so that is not the problem. I don't know why they canceled my favorite animated show (JLU). As for others, most of what I watch on CN is recycled from Fox (Family Guy and Futurama, mostly). I also love Juniper Lee, Robot Chicken, Dexter's Lab, Power Puff Girls, and Star Wars: Clone Wars. Unfortunatly, with my work schedule, I almost never get the chance to see those.

Re: Costumes in a Real World Game

Costumes (whether in the real world or comics), serve several important functions. First is obviously disguise. I don't care what kind of powers I have, I'm not using them in public without my face covered. Second, it gives people a way to identify you (I know, seems to contradict the first, but stay with me). People may not be saying "John Jenkins of 321 Main Street pulled me out of my burning car!", but they will say "Ultiman saved my life!" Plus, if you're looking into the possibility of marketing, it gives you something to trademark. Third, if you are of the Batman persuasion, there is intimidation. This one also applies to villains, obviously. As for the costume being skin-tight or not, well that depends on body type, power set, and personal preference.

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

No official Champions characters spring to mind.

But from the comics, I'd have to say Taskmaster. Cool power, functioning brain, varied arsenal, and he even briefly considered being a hero until he figured out there's no money in it (though if he were created today, that would change). I actually got to play him once masquerading as a hero (different name, costume change) and I had a blast. He is definitly in my top three villains.

Re: WWYCD: The Darkest Hour

Voltage : Would go on a party spree, first off. He'd hit on every woman in sight, hang out with his wang out, and tip strippers with 20s instead of singles. He'd also continue to fight crime, probably even more vigirously than before, and would put on 10 pounds from the food he would be eating. And God help any Viper agents he runs across. Once it wore off, Mr. Teen Angst better hope he can teleport faster than a lightning bolt.