DusterBoy

Re: S.H.A.R.D. - Super Hero Acronym Resource Directory P.E.A - Paranormal Enforcement Agency or, more offensive . . .S.C.A.T - Superhuman Crisis Action Taskforce or SuperHuman Incident Team or . . . maybe not Try these: M.A.S.T - Metahuman Activities Support Team S.H.E.A.R - SuperHuman Emergency Action Regiment (not like there'd be an actual regiment, numbers wise, but it's the thought that counts)

Re: Opinions: A 'Hero' Stealing Their Gear.....???? I'm going to risk being flamed here. I agree Bilbo is a fantasy character. So are superheroes. The genre is just the same, only with a pseudo-scientific/technical rationale and a contemporary "real-world" background with science (esp "radiation") standing in for magic. And there are a lot of mythological and/or supernatural characters in both Marvel and DC Comics. Plus a lot of the gadgets used in the comics verge on the magical - a case in point being Peter Parker's web casters. John Clute specifically includes superheroes in his "Encyclopaedia of Fantasy". And the argument could be made that aliens in superhero campaigns/comics function as stand-ins for elves, goblins and other supernatural beasties.

Re: Opinions: A 'Hero' Stealing Their Gear.....???? Looks like the Tuatha de Danann have struck again. There's a breed of evil Celtic giant called the Fomori who were the TdD's hereditary enemies. About a hero "stealing" his artifact/s, look at "The Hobbit". Bilbo "acquired" the Ring from Gollum so technically he's a thief. But the Ring was trying to leave Gollum - to get back to Sauron. Bilbo chanced upon in the dark and put it in his pocket. He didn't realise at that point that it "belonged" to anyone. And consider that Gollum/Smeagol murdered Deagol to get the Ring - after Isildur had "stolen" it from Sauron in battle, claiming it as "weregild" or some such. So who's the real thief? And the point is, the Ring allowed Bilbo to resolve the conflict between the Dwarves, Men and Elves - an undoubtedly heroic action. On his deathbed, Thorin forgave Bilbo for stealing the Arkenstone - again, without which the coalition would have been impossible. And Bilbo never saw himself as a hero, or a thief. As Gandalf points out to Frodo in "LotR:Fellowship of the Ring": "I can put it no plainer than by saying Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you were meant to have it. And that may be a comforting thought." The point here (yes I have one - I'm not just rambling or quoting Tolkein for the hell of it) is that is taking something you were meant to have - no matter by whom - stealing? Even though the museum could legitimately press charges against Character X for theft, and the local PD would also regard her actions unfavourably. I think it's how she uses these artifacts as well as their provenance. If she is (literally) fighting for "good" with them against inimical forces, then she can be properly seen as heroic. I think if I was working with her, I would regard her as heroic - plus I'm a sucker for Elves.

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye Boy, you haven't read Robert B Parker's "Spenser" stories at all, have you?

Re: Nick Diamond, Private Eye Boy, you haven't read Robert B Parker's "Spenser" stories at all, have you?

Re: Disturbing Character premises... Talk about cutting straight to the heart of the matter. Hoo, boy!

Re: Let's make a superhero base auditions (Topside description) Okay, if this thread is still running . . . Quick and (not that) dirty: the location is Canary Wharf, London. You've got a big, sprawling four-storey Norman Foster-designed building done in concrete, glass and steel so it looks good. It should look like a normal office building but it's built on the "iceberg principle" - there are more floors underground than there are aboveground. The building's power plant is in the bottom basement.The team's ground vehicle is in the underground car park as is the hanger for the team's aircraft (a tilt rotor or something that looks like a USAF/Area 51 "black project"). There is a lift to the roof which has a two-part sliding door to allow egress. There is no hard-core security, or armed guards, but it is EMP-hardened, the walls and windows are armoured and there is a sophisticated air-filtration system. What d'you think?

Re: Generation Gap Otis Broome is already my favourite character. Please say you're going to develop this on this board. (What is a hero? A hero is someone who does the right thing because he cannot do differently, who never quits and always completes his mission. But a hero never thinks of himself as such.) "Why do think this is my responsibility? Because no-one else thinks it's theirs"