Doug McCrae

Re: Galactic Champions

The Golden Age had a lot of superheroes who didn't have any powers at all. In my opinion the vast majority were just guys in funny suits with a good left hook. That's a major point of distinction between Golden and Silver Age. By the Silver Age, non-powered superheroes were much rarer. A few had really useless powers like Matter-Eater Lad. Generally speaking the power level was low. There's an early FF where The Thing needs many blows to smash thru a big log. Female characters in particular had very weak powers. They were almost never allowed to have superstrength or offensive abilities.

That said there were some amazingly powerful heroes in both eras - the Golden Age Spectre, Dr. Fate and Green Lantern. Superman from the mid-1940s onward and all the knockoffs such as Supergirl, Krypto and Mon-El. Silver Age Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter. And people with what you might call 'rule-based' powers like Duplicate Boy and Nemesis Kid. I don't mean HERO rules but the fairytale rules of Silver Age DC. Grant Morrison's The Quiz, who has every power except the ones you've thought of, is a good modern example.

The power range in both eras is so wide you can't really give a point total unless it's for a 'typical' superhero.

Re: Crude Combined Marvel/DC timeline to use as backstory to a Supers campaign

McCoy, that's a great timeline. I particularly liked the note about Stalin's project to build animal men. Are the adventures of Prof Roy Hinkley flashback stories from Gilligan's Island? Was the 1974 event depicted in The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

Re: Crude Combined Marvel/DC timeline to use as backstory to a Supers campaign

I'm very much in favour of messing around with published history as much as you like. Partly because I don't know the continuity well enough (who does, this side of Kurt Busiek?) and partly because it makes the whole endeavour more creative and to me, thus a lot more worthwhile. Remaining beholden to Marvel and DC would make one a mere drudge, a cataloguer rather than a creator.

For example I thought having Krypton destroyed by Galactus was a brilliant idea, but it wouldn't be possible if you followed DC continuity - I believe Krypton was originally said to have died of 'old age'.

Re: Crude Combined Marvel/DC timeline to use as backstory to a Supers campaign

Good stuff - Seems extensive for crude notes.

I really liked Galactus destroying Krypton, brothers Namor and Aquaman as the Hawk & Dove of Atlantean politics, the connections between the Captain Marvels and Tony Stark having a heart attack.

For a roleplaying universe, a concern I might have is that there seem to be too many superheroes still around to step on the PCs toes. I'd have had Superman killed in the 60s for example in a manner similar to the 1961 Death of Superman imaginary story.

Re: GM Help: Supervillainous Death

If it was comics, Tachyon's sister would blame the PCs for his death, get superpowers and seek revenge.

Re: Name Assistance, Please.

Zeus

Fulminata - Latin for lightning

Re: Cluttered Universes

1990 and beyond

This is the start of an attempt to do a detailed write up for a cluttered universe. It took me three days to do a third of the events for 1990 so I gave up at that point.

Re: Name Help

Silver Age: Dittolad

General: Gemini

Ultramodern: Gemini X

Re: Cluttered Universes

I really enjoyed the sheer insanity of the Marvel Universe's size, emphasised in some of the recent works by Kurt Busiek. There's a great line in an early issue of his Avengers run where Cap berates the Squadron Supreme for getting mind controlled so many times.

I tried to recreate this in a superhero universe of my own devising but the sheer scale of the project was too much for me.

Re: The best retcons of all time

Is that the 80's one?

Re: The best retcons of all time

As Zornwil said, Alan Moore's Miracleman. Best 'It was all a dream' since Alice.

Re: Best and Worst Costume/Appearance Changes

All the modernising changes that have stuck are good, for example the red and gold Iron Man armour rather than the original bulky gold outfit. I liked Scarlet Witch's gypsy outfit with the bare midriff.

One change I didn't like was Moondragon's new white costume over the old green one. Yards of cleavage, knee-length high-heeled boots - why mess with a crowd-pleaser?

Re: What Would Your Character Wear? The Costume Party!

Dog Girl would go as Supergirl.

Re: Need an organization name

Blue Sky

Re: CHAMPIONS OF THE NORTH -- What Would You Like To See?

Information on Canada in the pulp' date=' Golden Age, Silver Age, and modern supers eras[/quote']Were there any Silver Age Canadian superheroes? I know there were a few Golden Age ones.

Re: Wierdest powers...

Grant Morrison is the source of a lot of good weirdness. I loved The Quiz's power too. Seth, an enemy of The Authority, has some great bizarre powers such as 'rainbow breath' and 'strength squared'.

I really like the Legion of Super-Villains member Nemesis Kid. He had the power to adapt whatever powers he needed to beat any one foe.

Re: Need Help with a Name

Phalanx

Re: Random powers?

Anyone remember Golden Heroes? You rolled for your powers' date=' but you then had to design a backstory that reasonably encompassed them. Any that didn't fit, didn't stay.[/quote']The problem was the players could just use 'multi origins' to justify every power. For example a mutant who trained to be an expert swordsman then had a cybernetic arm grafted.

Re: Else Earth Naming Game...

The Armory

Re: Archetype Twists

Basically' date=' think the Karate Kid of the bow.[/quote']You can put any phrase or concept you like in front of the word arrow. Universe destroying arrow, universe building arrow etc. I had a Golden Age PC called The Masked Archer who sadly died when he was beheaded by a rampaging robot from the future. Some of my arrow ideas for him were:

 

Mummification arrow

Crop dusting arrow

Thousand arrow arrow (multiple warhead)

Space Folding arrow

Re: Archetype Twists

Most of my PCs have been pretty straightforward, the only one that messed with archetypes was Miss Cybermiaow, who, as the name suggests, was a cybernetic catgirl.

I've had a few ideas for that sort of messing I've not yet implemented:

Redneck scientist

Patriotic swamp monster – “U… S… A!”

Mystical, mysterious speedster – “You are not yet ready to comprehend the mysteries of… the Speed Force!”

Cat girl scientific genius

Anthropomorphic rabbit with the personality of the Punisher (very similar to mattingly's Thunderbunny above)

Robot wizard

Re: The original 1934 Superman Strip

Excellent. It's interesting to note that the early Superman didn't get his powers from the gravity difference between Earth and Krypton, but from being 'evolutionarily advanced'.

Re: Golden Age speedster advice needed

Speedwoman or Doublequick

Re: Silver Age Villains?

Aliens - Skrulls, Kree, Brainiac, Despero, Space Phantom, Impossible Man

Apes - Titano, Gorilla Grodd the Super Gorilla, Red Ghost and his Super Apes

Commies - Crimson Dynamo, SA Red Skull, Red Ghost and his Super Apes

Animal powers - Dr. Octopus, The Lizard, Vulture, Toad

Hidden races (and their rulers) - Mole people/Mole Man, Atlanteans/Sub-Mariner and Attuma, Lava Men from Avengers #5

Rampaging robots - Ultron, Computo

Unstoppable juggernauts - Destroyer, Rhino, Juggernaut

Misguided or confused foes, trouble-makers but not evil - Bizarro, Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Impossible Man

Evil version of a superhero - Professor Zoom, Sinestro, Abomination, Baron Mordo, Dev-Em the Knave from Krypton

A guy with a special gun - Captain Cold, Paste-Pot Pete

All the powers of a hero team - Amazo, Super Skrull

Alliteratively named teams where the second word is a number - Frightful Four, Fatal Five, Sinister Six

Names derived from taking a normal word and changing the end to 'o' - Bizarro, Metallo, Amazo, Sinestro, Titano, Universo, Computo

Generally speaking, heroes would battle appropriate foes. Thor would fight evil gods. Spidey faced off against street level bad guys with animal powers. The X-Men opposed evil mutants. The Metal Men opposed robots gone wrong. The FF saved the world from aliens and hidden races.

Re: Need Villain Team Name

The Invisibles, of course.

'Watchmen' being the title of Alan Moore's (arguably) greatest work it seems fitting they should be opposed by a group named after Grant Morrison's (arguably) greatest work.

Though personally I preferred Big Dave.