Doug McCrae

Speedster: Frontrunner, Pace, Speedline, Fast Forward, Mach Ten, Johnny Hermes

 

Blue Lantern: How about just Azure? Or Viridian (it means blue-green, could refer to the colour of her energy and basically just sounds cool). Or Quest, Star*Lance, Shield

 

Earth Force: Kilimanjaro, Geb (Egyptian earth god), Boulder, Crag, Heartland, Basalt, Granite

Originally posted by Trebuchet

I'm sorry if you can't handle the name socialism being attached to the Nazis; but in my book socialism is a bad thing in any manifestation. Some are just worse than others.

I'm sorry if you can't handle the name nationalism being attached to the Nazis; but in my book nationalism is a bad thing in any manifestation. Some are just worse than others.

Tiger claw - Kung fu martial artist. The 'Tiger claw' refers to a particular style or school of kung fu which is real AFAIK.

 

Wildcat Strike - Energy blaster, or flying brick. Maybe a strong speedster? Anything that hits hard and fast.

 

Catnap - Induces sleep.

 

Kilkenny - Very tough determined fighter, like Wolverine or the Thing. Refers to a story about the 'cats of Kilkenny' that fought so hard they killed one another.

 

Catamount - Wild, savage fighter. Again probably like Wolverine.

 

The Nine-Lifer - Something to do with cats being reputed to have nine lives. 8 duplicates? Has reincarnated 8 times with full memory and possesses all the skills and knowledge of previous lives? Like Triathlon but with the power of nine men instead of three?

Bricks

 

I think you're right. Brick is toughest because they've all been done. The best you can hope for might be one that hasn't be done as much.

 

The happy-go-lucky or wisecracker demeanour is most commonly asociated with agile, bounce-around types so is a bit more interesting for a brick. But a certain jade giantess already has that combo down. Go a bit further and make the personality totally maniac/manic like the Creeper?

 

What about a mysterious, mystical brick? The Thing's powers but with the Phantom Stranger/Raven's personality.

 

The Kid. This is a team personality type, represented by Iceman, the Human Torch or Kitty Pryde. I can't think of a brick exemplar. Or go further and have a brick that actually is a child, like 8 years old or something, but on a team of (or at least looked after by) adult superheroes? Now that would be a menace.

 

What about a brick with a nerdy Woody Allenish persona? He might lose his nerdiness now he can shove people around.

The Patriot is different from all the rest because that archetype determines an aspect of personality but says nothing about powers or origin. I think you can get a great deal of mileage out of patriots with different power-sets/races.

 

So you could have patriotic wizards, catgirls or swamp monsters - "U... S... A..."

 

These are pretty weird concepts but you have to be a little bit weird if you want to be original.

Re: Breaking Personality Stereotypes for the Archetypes

 

Originally posted by Hermit

Metamorphs- I've seen it in villainous metamorphs, but I haven't seen too many ruthlessly efficient no nonsense super hero metamorphs. In the recent "Name the Hero" contest, I found out more than one person entering a stretching sort made their submission deliberately not zany. Mind you, Reed Richards is not a 'fun guy' but he's not exactly ruthlessly pragmatic either.

The visuals make a stretcher a natural humour character in comics (much less important for rpgs). It's hard to retain much dignity when you've swelled up in the shape of a balloon. I think Stan Lee was doing an 'against type' with Reed Richards, very much aware of Plastic Man and trying to do something duifferent - a serious-minded stretcher.

Re: Breaking Personality Stereotypes for the Archetypes

 

Originally posted by Hermit

Martial Artist- Are there many blue collar Martial Artists? Average joes who aren't into zen? I guess Dirty Infighters would be that sort. Maybe I'm missing some options here.

A boxer? Like the GA Wildcat?

Re: Team Help: The Pride

 

Originally posted by winterhawk

I am a total fan of motiff teams such as the Serpent Society, The Royal Flush Gang and the Death Throes (don't ask).

Me, too. I love the Royal Flush Gang.

Really enjoyed reading your writeup, Kevin. I was particularly interested in the 'magic ray'. Was it really called that in the radio series/comics? I've noticed a tendency to conflate science and magic in the Golden Age. For example Dr. Fate, or the Spectre using his powers to create 'L-Rays'.

 

Thanks also for the link to Toonopedia. I hadn't been aware of it. Up to now I've been using Jess Nevins site for my GA info but the entries here are much more detailed.

I'd like to see stats for Loony Leo.

Powerhouse, I'm working on a new superhero campaign and I decided to take the exact same approach as you. There's a Golden->Iron Age back story, but most of these heroes have died or retired or disappeared or some such, leaving the PCs free to be the World's Greatest Superheroes. I'm planning a globetrotting worldsaving campaign kind of like a mixture of the Fantastic Four and the Authority with a bit of Planetary's 'secret history' thrown in.

 

The great thing about this is the legacy these heroes have left. The secret bases, the power-artefacts, the children or others (perhaps PCs) inspired by their legendary deeds and wishing to follow in their foot-steps. The statues.

 

The world at present will have very few heroes. One or two local teams, a few independents. These will have clear territory marked out to avoid stepping on the PCs toes and will be of a significantly lower power level anyway.

 

There will also be a few hidden civilisations, a la Atlantis or Gorilla City. Well they used to be hidden. Some will have become public knowledge between 1938 and the present.

 

Although they potentially do exist there will not be much emphasis on vampires, werewolves, chi experts or psychics, given that this is a superhero game.

 

MoonHunter, I really liked your '15 giant monsters'. There will be giant monsters from two periods (1960 odds and the mid-70s) in my universe.

In X-Men #1 (1963) Professor X addresses his X-Men thusly:

 

"I was born of parents who had worked on the first A-bomb project! Like yourselves I am a mutant... possibly the first such mutant!"

 

It doesn't say anything specifically about the X-Men's parents being exposed to radiation, but I think the implication is that they got a dose from the A-bomb detonations in Japan and nuclear tests in the late 40s.

 

I'm not up on later developments in Marvel but is it not the case that in the late 80s, early 90s virtually everyone was a mutant (except Thor)?

 

Was it also determined sometime in the 90s that the preponderance of terrestrial superheroes was due to genetic tampering by the Kree? Aliens. Is there anything they're not responsible for?

 

So it seems the Silver Age X-Men were the result of radiation, but the Iron Age X-Men, like most other superheroes, were caused by alien genetic manipulation. The Unified Origin Theory.

Originally posted by Lupus

I'm also sure you'd find bronze-age stories in silver- or gold-age comics (though I don't know of any myself). Of course, the storytelling style will be different. Perhaps that's more of a marker of age.

They weren't too big on pondering the meaning of life in the Golden or Silver Ages. They were too busy smashing the nazis or commies.

I don't agree with some of the 'Hero System - Genre by Genre' analysis but I thought I'd put my disagreements in another post, for clarity.

 

Golden Age. Some important heroes of the period wielded awesome power and would be hard to build on 250pts - The Spectre, Doctor Fate and Green Lantern.

 

Silver Age. I think it's important to distinguish between DC Silver Age and Marvel Silver Age. The Marvel Age only began in 1961 and though it began to influence DC, that took a few years. Batman was still going on jaunts into space until 1964! The trends of ugly heroes (Thing, Hulk), bickering teams (FF, Avengers), heroes with real world problems (blind, lame, social stigma), the reader identification hero (Spider-man) were pure Marvel. Over at DC, heroes had problems but they weren't real world - vulnerable to glowing green rocks, can't use powers on anything coloured yellow.

 

In the Silver Age a truly wonderful mythology was constructed for Superman - the lost world of Krypton, the Fortress of Solitude, the Bottle City of Kandor, the Superman-Emergency Squad, Lori Lemaris. There was really nothing like that over at Marvel.

 

Iron Age. Amongst the developments of this age, one of the most important was the trend towards postmodern or retro comics. In other words, in a minority of comics things got less realistic! Examples: 1963, Astro City, Supreme, Big Bang, DC's Silver Age, Grant Morrison's JLA, Marvel's Heroes Return, Planetary, Tom Strong.

Originally posted by SleepyDrug

Golden Age - comics from WWII to around 1960. Extremely 4-color, not much continuity. Heroes are ALWAYS pure and good, and without major personality or socio-economic flaws. Villains are ALWAYS evil and dastardly; criminal motives are simple.

What about the Prankster, Toyman and Mr. Mxyztplk? What about the "loving enemy" - the female villain who loves the hero and isn't really evil? Catwoman for example.

 

Some Golden Age heroes were killer vigilantes. Batman and Superman were both quite prepared to kill in the very early stages of the GA, but developed stricter moral codes later on.

Hero Games has defined the terms as follows in the document 'Hero System - Genre by Genre', which you can download from this website:

 

Golden Age Champions

“The Golden Age†refers to the comics in the period around World War II and some years thereafter, and usually focuses on the activities of superheroes and villains during the War. While the adventures typically consist of fighting enemies and villains on the homefront, some campaigns allow the PCs to invade Europe, participate in famous battles, and the like.

 

Golden Age Champions superheroes are usually built on fewer points than other heroes (often the Low-Powered variant of 100 Base Points + 150 Disadvantages), and are usually simpler and easier to construct. They tend not to have complicated or unusual powers — after all, at this stage of history, superhumans are a new thing, and just having a plain old Energy Blast or Flight ability is remarkable enough, without slapping lots of Advantages on it!

 

Silver Age Champions

Comics historians and fans use the term “the Silver Age†to describe the period from roughly 1956 to 1972 (although some choose different dates). During this time, many classic characters (including all the most famous Marvel characters) were created or re-defined, and many motifs and themes now common to comics (such as a focus on the perils and problems that come from being a superhero) emerged. The style is eclectic, often retaining some of the innocence and pure heroism of the Golden Age, but tinged (particularly later on) with the social awareness and “realism†that became important in comics in later years. Heroes are typically colorful, with bright costumes and larger-than-life attitudes.

 

In many ways, Silver Age Champions represents the “typical†or “default†type of Champions campaign. It’s a great era for teams of superheroes, and features all the common “bits†without altering any of them too much. It appeals to gamers who don’t want their games to become too serious or “gritty†— who enjoy a combination of action and humor touched by drama. Silver Age heroes are usually built on the Low-Powered total of 150 Base Points + 100 Disadvantages.

 

Bronze Age Champions

“The Bronze Age†refers to the comics of the 1970s and early ’80s. Comics during this period are marked primarily by a slow shift away from the “Comics Codeâ€-oriented stories and characters of the Silver Age to more mature themes. Heroes sometimes found themselves confronting issues of mortality, societal unrest, drug abuse, and the like. Bronze Age heroes are usually built on the Standard 250 Base Points + 100 Disadvantages. Some variations on the theme focus on lower powered heroes and how they interact with normal humans (who are much more of a potential threat to them than they are to normal, four-color superheroes).

 

Iron Age Champions

“The Iron Age†refers to comics from the mid-1980s until the present day. During this time, the trends that began in the Bronze Age continued. The Comics Code was often ignored altogether, as heroes and stories shifted from gaudy costumes and “simple†heroic attitudes and conduct, and more towards “realism†and “grittinessâ€: characters favor darker costumes, leather, and the like; they’re more likely to kill or seriously injure their opponents; they have a harder, more practical, attitude toward superheroing; and they spend more time coping with the “realistic†implications of having superpowers, the effects of their powers on the world around them, and so forth. The settings are often more likely to be inner-city environments or other “realistic†places instead of a supervillain’s secret headquarters or a space station. In short, the heroes often are no longer “four-color,†as gamers sometimes call Golden and Silver Age characters. Iron Age heroes are usually built on the Standard 250 Base Points + 100 Disadvantages.

 

 

I understand that, when the terms are used to apply to roleplaying games rather than comics, a Gold->Iron Age campaign could be set in any time period. People often seem to set games with a Silver Age tone in the present, for example.

Originally posted by proditor

We had the sorcerer who insisted she could lob 400 arrows in one attack with the telekinesis spell, each of them doing 1d8 damage. (The actual rule is 1 arrow per caster level)

Ouch! Now we're firmly in the realm of the superhero.

Originally posted by Arandmoor_Keet

"If you ever hear the words 'Central Casting'...run like hell!"

What's bad about Central Casting? I haven't used the books myself, but I was trying to find the superhero one a while back.

Originally posted by proditor

I can match (and in some cases surpass) most of the stated horror stories on here.

Tell! Tell!

Originally posted by Gary

Did any of the upper levels throw out 30D6 or 10D6 killing area effects?

Good point, Gary. If the uber-characters have area effects it could really screw things up. One prays if a big AE goes off in such a battle it would be selective but the more Guy Gardnerish personalities might decide to just 'sweep away the chaff'. All of it.

Currently I run my superhero games something like systemless, I don't actually use Champions at all. The method for power balance I used in my last campaign was just asking the players to try to construct characters of roughly equal power. This worked pretty well but only because they were a decent bunch of people.

 

In Champions if you applied this approach, would you consider junking the point totals altogether? Instead you could have a couple of sample characters to use as a power-level guide.

Just to play Devil's Advocate here, is a big power imbalance necessarily a bad thing? I mean what if player A is a rabid min-maxer but players B, C and D don't care?

 

Now, myself, if I was player B-D, I'd have a big big problem if player A was, in addition to being a power gamer, an asshole. If he used his power to bully the other PCs and give them less game time (the worst thing you can do to another player, whatever method you use) I would have a problem. But if player A was a nice guy and used his power with a strong measure of sensitivity, then I wouldn't mind.

 

It all depends who you play with.

Originally posted by Lord Mhoram

This is one I have heard before, and I just don't understand. Part of what I love about HERO is the ability to build the character exactly as I envision it.

...

After the first adventure, it became clear that he was just too versatile for the game, and I asked the GM to let me retire the character and build a new one.

You're a good player, Lord Mhoram.

 

I see where you're coming from here, but what other solution is there? Few players have your sensitivity. What's the GM to do about the gross-out monster that doesn't realise he's hurting the game?

I don't like the big power imbalance you get in Champions between players that know the char gen system inside out and those that don't. Or as you put it - number crunchers and roleplayers.

 

One solution our last GM used was to get plain English character descriptions from the players then do all the stats himself. This works pretty well IMO.

Combining methods 2 and 3 would give you the Blue Danube.