Pól Ruadh

Re: Tropes Revisted: Tropes that could be applied to Superheroing/Villainy but aren't Romance and Superheroes aren't always a comfortable fit, but there have been more than a few times where they've crossed over. 'Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane' is a good example, and yeah, there's the Superdickery element, but dickery was a strong part of the Romance comics of the time. Most incarnations of Supergirl during the Silver Age had strong Romantic subplots. John Romita, Sr. who took over from Steve Ditko was, up until that point, primarily a romance comics artist, and it was he who introduced the Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, Peter triangle... but Spidey's love life has always been a plot element, from Liz Allen and Betty Brant on... Some modern comics such as 'Love In Capes' and 'Love Fights' have tried blending the two as well.

Re: Guess the inspiration behind this superteam! That ninja? He Australian, by any chance?

Re: The Cape - What do you think of it so far? Loved it, a really nice modern pulp character. Honestly, while I can see the Orwell/Oracle comparison, she's also got elements of The Shadow's agent Burbank. My two favourite things so far are (a) the fact that its so unapologetically a superhero show. It has its own internal logic without desperately trying to be 'realistic'. I love that it embraces the weird, strange and wonderous elements of superhero genre so willingly, and ( The sheer depth and amount of 'story hooks'. Watching this, I thought The Cape is EXACTLY the sort of character I love to play and GM. There are just so many angles you could take in crafting stories. From the various Carnival Members and its history, to Tarot, Ark Industries, the hero's family, Orwell's past... an almost overwhelmingly rich array of plot hooks. Good stuff, and I can't wait to see more of it.

Re: Tropes Revisted: Tropes that could be applied to Superheroing/Villainy but aren't Absolutely, it's one of my favourite things about superheroes! At the moment, I'm playing a superintelligent gorilla with a rocketpack and a raygun, Before that, I was playing a Hong Kong Zen Gunfighter with overdeveloped vengeance issues, and before that I was playing a superstrong Mexican Wrestler. I love the diversity in the superhero genre. But yeah, it makes it hard to find a trope that superhero comics haven't used!

Re: Tropes Revisted: Tropes that could be applied to Superheroing/Villainy but aren't The problem with superheroes as a genre is that it's so inclusive. I mean, honestly, if you look at the Justice League, you have a Martian detective (science-fiction + noir/crime), Superman (science fiction + folkloric strongman/mythic hero elements), Wonder Woman (Greek Mythology), Batman (Pulp Hero/Crime/Detective/Espionage/Horror/Swashbuckling High Adventure), Green Lantern (E.E. 'Doc' Smith-style Space Opera), Green Arrow (swashbuckling high adventure as well as gritty urban crime and 'social relevence'), Hawkman (Science Fiction, Cop, Historical Adventure Pulp, Occult), Elongated Man (Screwball Comedy, Detective), Zatanna (occult/fantasy/supernatural)... and that's off the top of my head. I mean, it's a genre where creators can seemingly draw from anything. Case in point, Patsy Walker, Hellcat. Beginning her career in 'Patsy and Hedy' (teen comedy and romance), she later adopted the costume of feminist crimefighter 'The Cat' (Urban Crime), joined The Defenders (Superhero Team) featuring Dr.Strange (occult, supernatural), The Silver Surfer (science fiction / cosmic), The Hulk (Traditional Monster + Cold War Atomic Horror), The Sub-mariner (Lost Worlds fantasy), married the Son of Satan (70's-style occultism/horror), and recently had a miniseries which adopted a kind of comedic superhero adventure with a sort of 'Sex in the City'-style metatexuality.

Re: Tropes Revisted: Tropes that could be applied to Superheroing/Villainy but aren't

Re: my UK hero project While you're looking at Alan Moore's 'Albion' and Philip Jose Farmer's Stuff, you should definitely cast an eye over Kim Newman's 'Diogenes Club' material (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diogenes_Club) and Paul Grist's excellent 'Jack Staff' series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Staff). Both great resources for this sorta thing... and damn fine reads in their own regard.

Re: The Naming Game with twist: The Character Concept Game

Re: Guess the inspiration behind this superteam! Songs performed by Johnny Cash? 'Ghost Riders in the Sky', 'Ring of Fire' and 'Man In Black' respectively.

Re: The Naming Game with twist: The Character Concept Game Oops. Ah well, Count Infinity is a hell of a cool name. Simian Samurai seems pretty easy. I'd be inclined to use it as a sub-title rather than a proper name... just as you have, 'Superman, the Man of Steel', we have Shu Saru, The Simian Samurai (apologies for my abominable Japanese). This is another 'Lost World' Caper, where a unit of Japanese Soldiers who refuse to believe the war is over are stranded on a mysterious Pacific Island inhabited by Dinosaurs. For decades, the soldiers gathered the island's population of intelligent ape-men to them, 'recruiting' and training them to make up the numbers. One ape in particular, larger and more intelligent than his fellows, took charge, and transformed his fellows into an army of ape-soldiers and re-naming himself 'Shu Saru' (or Lord Ape), ruled the island. The last surviving soldier, now old and withered, kept barely alive by the strange waters and berries of the island, is a skeletal near-madman who acts as Shu Saru's advisor. I can imagine a story where a plane or boat-load of passengers (including a DNPC or two) goes missing and the heroes happen across the mysterious island. Once there, they encounter dinosaurs, and the Simian Samurai's ape-soldiers. The heroes have to infiltrate (or storm) Shu Saru's Volcano Pagoda to rescue the passengers.

Re: The Naming Game with twist: The Character Concept Game 'Infinity' would seem to indicate either a time travel gimmick or immortality, while 'Count' gives the impression of nobility. Also, fictional Counts tend to be on the arch, sinister side. There's also the Count Dracula association. So Count Infinity would be an immortal nobleman, in ornate ceremonial attire (cape, medals, duelling sabre... something reminiscent of 'The Prisoner of Zenda'). I'd go the pencil-thin moustache, slicked-back black hair and monocle as well. Formerly the despotic ruler of a fake postage-stamp European nation, he used a strange blend of science and sorcery to drain the temporal energy (and life-force) from his subjects to extend his own life. First appearing as a Golden Age villain allied with the Nazis, he was deposed by a Golden Age superhero team and believed dead after he fell into a volcano. In actuality, he managed to escape, whereupon he fled to South America, where he set up again. During this time, he discovered the mysterious Maple White Land, a strange mesa of dinosaurs described in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World'. Count Infinity is your standard-issue megalomaniacal world conqueror. He's aided by a small group of allies, chiefly Volda, a mysterious gypsy sorceress from his homeland who, it is often implied, has certain infernal ties, Dr.Heinreich Hellstrom, an escape nazi mad scientist whose ancient body is kept alive by gruesome black science, and Torgo, a Neanderthal-like Caveman who acts as the Count's bodyguard and muscle.

Re: Lucha Libre? In the latest previews, they've announced a second volume of 'Strongman' (which is awesome). But yeah, El Sonambulo really is the creme de la creme. As for GL and Martian Manhunter villains, well Sinestro's not even going to need a name change, and Martian Manhunter has always tried to defend earth from the White Martians... So Blonde Martians a la 'Santo Contre Los Marcianos' it is!

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! Pat Jennings was an ordinary enough bloke. Born in a small town in outback Queensland, he didn't show much aptitude for schoolwork, and left in tenth grade to try and find work. He didn't have a lot of luck, picking up bits and pieces of short-term labouring jobs here and there which kept him alive, but nothing with any future to it. The only thing he did show much of a talent for was Rugby League football, playing in a number of casual leagues. This led to him finally being scouted and offered a development deal in Brisbane, and so he packed up and moved to the city. Unfortunately, as part of the regular regimen of tests, the team doctors discovered that Pat was a metahuman, with a standard package of heightened strength, speed, reflexes and durability. He considered fighting crime for awhile, but Brisbane's not exactly a hotbed of alien invasions and high-tech bank robberies, and Pat was no Sherlock Holmes, however, he did get some small amount of publicity when he happened to be in the right place at the right time to rescue some people from a major, multi-car traffic accident. It was this incident that led to MegaCorp discovering him and making the offer for him to join the team. He's young, vital, and photogenic and marketing think his accent and bronzed good looks will play well to the female demographic. They made him an offer, sent him a plane ticket and whisked him away to the Corporation's Los Angeles Office, where they outfitted him with a costume. Being an expatriate Australian in the US, he was keen on the name X-Pat, and despite marketing's uncertain looks and many, MANY alternative suggestions, seems pretty enamoured of it. Still, he's a fit, athletic, good looking bloke. He has a great smile, and a larrikin attitude and tends to poll well with focus groups... what could possibly go wrong?

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! As a child, Michael Willits never thought of himself as superhuman. I mean, really, in a world where people can fly, bench-press battleships and chow down on hand-grenades, being able to hear things from a long way away doesn't seem all that useful. Still, as he entered the police force and became an ordinary beat cop, he saw his ability as his 'edge' and kept them secret, until one day, during a hostage negotiation, he 'overheard' the suspect muttering to himself. He approached the negotiator and told him what he had heard; that the suspect was ready to give up, but really on the edge - twitchy and nervous. If they called off the entry now and got him back on the phone, he'd probably surrender. If they went in, he'd probably be able to kill one or two hostages before they took him down. Michael Willits has the ability to 'hear' from far, far away and focus that hearing to an incredible degree. As a cop, he's a good footsoldier and obeys orders well, but tends to be somewhat unambitious and a little unimaginative. Before the revelation of his power, he was an easy-going guy who got along with pretty much everyone, however, since then, a number of his colleagues look askance at him, like he's some sort of perpetual eavesdropper. As a result, he's a bit down-in-the-dumps with being a 'super cop' and wishes he could just go back to being plain old Officer Willits, beat cop. Still, he's a team player, and if the crew need the services of ol' Shotgun Mike, he'll be there to do his duty.

Re: GMing style, what else apart from 'Round the Table'? Of course, besides all these excellent ideas about how to keep characters together, it's important to add that, if you ARE dealing more with a single player, you should, (a) Try and make it interesting. Even if the other players' characters don't have the spotlight at the moment, the interplay between the PC and NPC's/GM should still be interesting and fun, ( Not let it drag on. Sometimes you HAVE to split the party. That's cool, but games are for having fun. If you're doing it often enough/for long enough that people are getting bored or fidgety, it's probably gone on for too long, and, © Make sure EVERYONE gets a turn in the spotlight. Players are much, much more willing to let someone else have a scene or two to themselves if they know they're getting one later. There are some players who can't stand not to be in the spotlight all the time. You can see them wandering around, looking at the DVDs on the shelves, picking up a book and reading a couple of pages, waiting for the clatter of dice to let them know 'something's happening'. It's almost impossible to cater to this sort of player without running what amounts to a D&D Dungeon Crawl where the entire group wanders around like clumped rice 24/7. In short, there's nothing wrong with splitting the party sometimes, when the adventure calls for it, just as long as everyone's still having fun because, in the end, that's what we play games for.

Re: First Wave, the First Review! Discuss, or risk Angering the Golden Tree! This is a really good idea and I really wanted it to work, but it's just not working for me at all. I'm a big pulp heroes fan, and I'd love to see this sort of idea handled very, very well indeed, but this doesn't appear to be it. It's not even that I don't like Azzarello. I loved '100 Bullets' and 'Jonny Double' but he just doesn't seem comfortable working with these characters. Luckily, I still have my collection of Bantam Paperbacks, and Nostalgia Ventures are currently helping me fill in the gaps on that.

Re: Lucha Libre Hero Plot Threads The one from 'Zombie Smackdown'? Not sure, the writers are credited as 'The New Gamers' Order', and there are about half a dozen of them. Not sure which one came up with the lucha libre scenario.

Re: Lucha Libre Hero Plot Threads My favourite part of the Lucha Libre scenario in 'Zombie Smackdown' is that the villains are the main technico in the federation and his cronies, and the PC's portray the fed's rudos. So not only do the heroes have to convince people that one of the wrestlers is actually an evil sorcerer, but that a beloved babyface is an evil sorcerer... and they'll be doing it wearing the masks of the federations most hated heels.

Re: Lucha Libre? I don't have enough friends into Lucha Libre to run a dedicated game, but I did play a Luchador Superhero, El Aguila Azul, in a superhero game. I got to incorporate a bunch of Lucha elements including an evil mad scientist/sorcerer, some evil luchadors, a mentor/trainer, and lots of monster-bashing. The GM even ran several character-specific arc, with mine centring on an old enemy of El Aguila's mentor returning from Hell to seek vengeance on his enemy's protegee. Loads of fun.

Re: Help name that superhero group Each member could insist that it stands for something different. The bloodthirsty ninja guy might think it stands for "Fist of Death Dojo of Extreme Revenge". The celebrity obsessed would-be starlet thinks it stands for "Famous Objects of Desire Demand Extreme Renumeration". The square jawed whitebread type guy thinks it stands for "Force Of Derring-Do and Extreme Righteousness". The cocky rogue might think it stands for "Facing Overwhelming Death and Destruction and Emerging Regardless". There's lots of options. It could be a running gag between the members.

Re: Help name that superhero group Heroic Endeavours at Lower Prices. I can imagine a late-night TV ad: "Are you in trouble? Need assistance? Have you go nowhere to go and no-one to call? Then call US! We're not like those OTHER Super-Teams where they don't get out of bed for less than an alien invasion or a stolen atomic bomb! We're here for you - no job too big, or too small! So remember, when you're in trouble, Call for HELP!" Another idea is to use the concept from GURPS: Supertemps, where the characters' powers really aren't up for full-time law-enforcement duties, but some jobs just call for a guy who can shrink down to 6" in height, stretch his arms like taffy, or talk to pigeons. By day, he's a mild-mannered accountant, but when the mission calls for it, the clarion call (or at least a pager signal) goes out for The Fantastic Mister Pigeon!

Re: Lucha Libre artwork! And the delightful Loreena Velasquez as the lady vampire!

Re: Looking for ideas - Silver-age villain group The Discordianist, with his perfidious piano-accordian.

Re: Lucha Libre: El Vetica You could buy Handwriting Analysis as a skill or as a power with a bunch of weird modifiers... probably something like psychometry. He could also use his powers of super typography to realize that the ransom note was pieced together with letters from the Tijuana Daily Express, and the typewriter used to send the letter to the television station was written on a Smith Corona 320z with a misaligned 't'. His mentor, a priest in the style of Fray Tormenta, has a church with a sacred well from which El Vetica derives his tremendous powers. The Church, of course, is the Church of San Serif. The water from the well grants the drinker uncanny insight, and is called 'The Font of Wisdom'. Of course, he's incorporated his motif into his wrestling style - His missile dropkick is 'The Arial Attack'. His submission move is 'The Times New Greco-Roman'. His finishing facebuster maneouvre is the 'Type Face'. His top-rope splash is 'The Printing Press'. The finisher he uses with his tag team partner, El Verdana, is 'The Stereo Type'.

Re: Looking for ideas - Silver-age villain group Probably the best way to approach a Masters of Evil-style team is to build it as an evil version of the PC team. Which isn't to say that the villains should be evil twins of the heroes but that each member should correspond to one of the heroes. So start with your PC's and have each member be a kind of arch enemy to one of the members of your heroteam. For example, in the original Masters of Evil, you had Baron Zemo as Cap's enemy, The Melter as Iron Man's enemy, The Black Knight as Ant-Man and the Wasp's enemy and Radioactive Man as Thor's enemy. One thing that could be fun is to build each villain to specifically target one of the PC's. If, say one of your PC's has a vulnerability to flame, then Baron Von Blowtorch should be able to take him easily, If another one has a fear of spiders, Tarantula Man will make short work of him and if one has a code of chivalry and won't hit a woman, he'll be easy pickings for Queen Seductra of the Malevolent Moon-People. Hopefully, after handing your players a beat-down, you can encourage them to work on their teamwork, or switch up partners next time, which is a classic comics 'bit'. So if you give us an idea of your PC's, we should be able to offer more substantial help. Another common thread for this type of group is that, while there should be a leader, squabbles amongst the team as to who should be leader. A Masters of Evil-style team is usually not the most rock-solid structure, and petty bickering and inter-team rivalry should be a factor.