Clonus

Re: Iconic Heroes I'd go with Batman: The Night Superman: Superheroes themselves Spider-Man: Adolescence Iron-Man: Technology Wonder Woman: Femaleness Captain America: American patriotism The Hulk: Anger Doctor Doom: Arrogance Red Skull: Sheer Evil Catwoman: Cats (Being a cat fancier, that's enough to be iconic for me) Thanos: Death The Thing: Solidity

Re: Potential Villain Scheme Water.

Re: People with Powers If it weren't for the Great Bank Collapse of 2030.

Re: Pulling Authority & Other Genres It isn't. In the cozy mystery genre it is unthinkable for the detective to kill his opponent, even when his opponent is a cold-blooded killer and there seems to be no way to bring them to justice. Well almost. Hercule Poirot In police procedurals the heroes know without a doubt that a certain character is a serial killer but in order to be the heroes as opposed to the out-control lunatics in meltdown, they have to play by the rules, get evidence and arrest them legitimately. They may kill, but it's in a situation where there's really no other way to stop the target from killing right then and there. In war stories, yes the military heroes kill, but they are not civilians, and civilians who start killing either get slaughtered out of hand, or commit atrocities that make them worse than soldiers of the enemy. Civilians only gain the power to become heroes who kill by joining an actual military force. In romantic adventure novels, the hero (and heroine) kill with great reluctance to save each other's lives and for no other other reason. The Authority on the other hand killed routinely and without being answerable to anyone else for their mistakes and choices.

Re: Pulling Authority & Other Genres I have considered a deconstructionist take on the start of a super-team where the lesser powered heroes band together to show a character similar to the original iteration of Superman that he is still answerable to humanity.

Re: Team Name Baywatch! What? The Random Factor The Free Agents

Re: Pulling Authority & Other Genres It's wrong for the same reason the Pentagon deciding that politicians are idiots and from now on the nation shall be ruled by a junta of capable military men is wrong. Many things are considered. Nothing says a superhero can't _consider_ killing. However, characters in fantasy are generally more analogous to soldiers than cops, unlike a superhero. When they aren't, they're generally scummy lowlives or civilians caught out of their depth and desperately struggling to survive. Decapitating demon-possessed corpses doesn't count. Superheroes also routinely stake vampires when they meet them. One of Doctor Who's great appealing qualities is that for him killing is genuinely a last resort, and not a phony last resort where characters pretend to be unwilling to kill but somehow are forced into that corner every time. The military and the police can only use lethal force within the context of regulations and the law. Also, when you are superhumanly powerful, certain things become a lot less necessary. If someone shot at me I would be totally justified in killing them dead. If someone shot at Superman...not so much. Uh-hunh. To the point that the military actually sent someone to the guys making 24 to ask them to tone it down because Bauer was such a bad role model. It doesn't. Flying under your own power is legal. I fail to see how the potential for accident justifies either being a deliberate killer, or taking over. People violate other people's privacy all the time. It isn't illegal in itself. I don't want to play supervillains. Specious. The accusation is not that The Authority are villains since they break the law. It's that they are villains because they are casual killers who overthrew the government of the United States. Said accusation may be unfair, I can't say since I avoid reading The Authority. That happened some 20+ years ago. And what would that moral difference be? So...how would they be different from Doctor Doom?

Re: How do you become a Jedi

Re: WWYCD: Out of cash Riptide: Swimsuit calender featuring the team Hellfire: Hellfire would be stumped but wouldn't consent to anything dishonest.

Re: WWYCD: "I" in Team T.N. Lung: Pocket Godzilla and even-tempered Buddhist Riptide: Fast talking aquatic speedster and team leader Hellfire: Bad tempered romantic flying zapper with a religious streak Phreak: Grotesque stretching guy D'Arc: Electricity and computer controller in a long jacket and a short skirt who was a hero to get out from under hacking charges. Winterfrost: Self-hating mutant with cold powers Moonchild: Empathic healer and manipulator Poet's actually a character who I wrote stories about instead of playing. Riptide's going to end up being the leader but D'arc may wrestle with him for control. Hellfire will fall in love with him and suspect Moonchild of trying to control him. Winterfrost will be something of a problem child since she doesn't like mutants. Phreak will be the class clown. There's a nice spread of abilities I think. The girls somewhat outnumber the boys 4 to 3

Re: Superheroes, Power and Responsbility Perhaps you should use something a little less reliable and indispensible than the sun in your analogy. If a supervillain kills the sun, we're all dead. Period. We are dependant on the sun, pretty much totally, but fortunately the sun is even harder than a superhero to lose.

Re: new time line were the dead stay dead I'm not allowing any. I just like the idea of Baldur rebuilding Asgard because that's what he's supposed to do after he dies. That's how Ragnarok goes.

Re: new time line were the dead stay dead Without Thor around, there's no need. Although I kind of like the idea of Baldur recreating Asgard. He's the one who who is supposed to, you know. If someone disappears in an explosion that's one thing. Given how tough these people are, we can safely assume that they are still alive if you didn't find a body. Given that the retcon was legendarily stupid, I don't see a reason to go with it. No. That's why I went with the Onslaught storyline as Vision's demise. Since there was no body left, he couldn't be turned on again. But this time he wasn't being killed by physical injury. That's why I picked that death. Explicit Christ-allegory gives him a pass. Onslaught already killed them, so that's not an issue. Isn't that the idea? It might be easier of course to list the major characters who are still alive all in all. Spider-Man for example has never really died. What with all the books he juggles, who has the time?

Re: new time line were the dead stay dead

Re: new time line were the dead stay dead What about people killed and resurrected in the same issue? Should they count? And how about Bucky whose death was a retcon in the first place? Bucky really continued to do his thing until 1948, when he was retired so he could be replaced by Golden Girl.

Re: Heroes Because an inability to control his powers was what was causing him to explode in the first place. Peter yes. Nathan maybe. That's assuming a bit too much. He was dragged away by something else. He could have been a corpse. All signs point to Sylar not being an active player in the next season.

Re: I have created a Regulation Act Yes. At least in my campaign all of those applications would take significant amounts of energy.

Re: I have created a Regulation Act Yeah right. You think Canada _wouldn't_ try to regulate or at least identify people with the ability to perforate people by pointing a finger? About all Canada would have going for it, is less of an inclination to draft supers for military service.

Re: I have created a Regulation Act You know, I kind of like the idea of just plain using community standards as a benchmark. That would mean that what you had to register for would vary from community to community, which would of course be a stupid idea from the point of view of a government who wants to get a line on all the freaks, but it would have interesting world building consequences. It would mean that certain cities would become magnets for heroes and villains who don't want to register just because they have "liberal" community standards.

Re: I have created a Regulation Act If he uses that in public, he has bigger problems than a failure to register. The point of the regulation I have proposed is to soothe public fears of an accidental or mis-aimed power discharge (as well as the use of mentalist abilities). Someone who was just plain toxic to be around would be covered by the same kind of public health regulations that eventually sent Mary "Typhoid Mary" Mallon into confinement for the rest of her life.

Re: I have created a Regulation Act

Re: How do you make this power? Usable by others, personal immunity?

Re: Superheroes, Power and Responsbility Superhumans aren't that smart. None of em are except for the ones who wander off into the cosmos and stop thinking about anything as insignificant as humanity. 'nuff said.

Re: I have created a Regulation Act [1] Definition of ‘Superhuman or Paranormal Ability’: A superhuman or paranormal ability is hereby defined as any power which produces more energy than can be explained by the caloric content of consumed food. [2] Artificial Superhuman or Paranormal Abilities: Any individual who regularly effects one or more superhuman or paranormal abilities by means of an instrumentality which can not be reproduced using currently available mass-production technology in the United States of America [3] Establishment of the Department of Superhuman Oversight: There shall exist a new federal agency titled ‘Department of Superhuman Oversight’ (‘the Department’), tasked with the enforcement of the provisions of this Act, the creation and maintenance of a database of known superhuman and paranormal individuals and abilities, the recruitment, training, and equipping of both superhuman and paranormal agents and a force of human anti-superhuman agents, and the direction of all superhuman, paranormal, and human anti-superhuman assets to the efficient defense of each of the states of the Union from superhuman or paranormal threats. [4] Terms of Regulation: Any citizen of these United States possessing one or more superhuman or paranormal abilities and desiring to use them in public shall report to the Department for regulation his legal name, Social Security number, and any and all places of legal residence. After submission of identifying information he shall accept limited and noninvasive testing of his superhuman or paranormal abilities with the intent of discovering the number and parameters of said abilities, and shall submit for recording all information he possesses on the origin of his superhuman or paranormal abilities. [5] Failure to Regulate: Any individual failing to abide by the provisions stated in [4] shall be guilty of misdemeanor punishable by fine. Willful use of such powers in such a way as to endanger any member of the public shall be a felony punishable by up to three years of imprisonment. [6] Intellectual Rights: Individuals possessing a means of effecting superhuman or paranormal abilities as defined in [2] shall as part of the provisions of [4] be required to submit for recording all information he possesses on the nature and construction of said means, but the individual shall retain all intellectual and real rights with regard to said means. [7] The Superhuman and Paranormal Activity Database: Superhuman or paranormal abilities possessed by tested individuals shall be recorded in a Superhuman and Paranormal Activity Database maintained by the Department and cross-referenced with biographical and geographical information contained on non-cybernetic media exclusively. Under no circumstances shall personal information held by the government be kept in any electronic storage device. The Department shall be free to add to any individual’s entry in the Database information deemed necessary for effective regulation of that individual’s superhuman or paranormal abilities. The Department shall make every reasonable effort to ensure the security of this database from unauthorized use. [8] Certification: Upon receipt by the Department of Superhuman Oversight of an individual’s identifying information, completion of testing, and insertion of the individual’s relevant information into the Superhuman and Paranormal Activity Database, the individual shall be considered regulated and shall be issued a license certifying him as such. This license shall contain a photograph of the regulated individual as he chooses to appear when using his superhuman or paranormal abilities (if noticeably different from his appearance when not using said abilities), the name or names the individual chooses to be known by, an address at which the public may contact the individual, a brief description of the individual’s primary superhuman or paranormal abilities and their extent, and the individual’s reference number in the Superhuman and Paranormal Activity Database. [9] Change of Superhuman or Paranormal Abilities: Any regulated individual experiencing a significant change in the number, nature or extent of his superhuman or paranormal abilities shall notify the Department of Superhuman Oversight of the changes as soon as he is reasonably able and submit to testing and submit information as in [4]. The individual shall not make use of his new or altered abilities until testing is complete and an updated license has been issued, under threat of punishment as described in [5]. [10] Change of Identifying Information: Any regulated individual wishing to alter the name(s) or appearance(s) to be used while using superhuman or paranormal abilities shall notify the Department of Superhuman Oversight of his wishes at least thirty (30) days prior to enacting change and shall not enact change until he has received an updated license from the Department. [11] Failure to Report Change: Any individual failing to abide by the provisions stated in [9] or [10] shall be guilty of misdemeanor punishable by fine and suspension of regulated status. [12] Verification of Identity Services: The Department of Superhuman Oversight shall notify all regulated individuals of their option of bestowing power of attorney upon employees of the Department so that the Department may represent regulated individuals in public and private matters.

Re: People with Powers