|
Post by tikiman on May 16, 2014 1:43:10 GMT
Stan Lee (or His Shoestring Budget Equivalent) proudly presents...THE PACIFIC PALADINS! Southern California's Greatest Super Heroes!
Featuring: The enigmatic NIGHT TERROR! (Alec)
The mysterious HOODED SWORDSMAN! (Bruce)
The inestimable ALPHA WOLF! (Ty)
The senses-shattering BLACK QUASAR! (Matt)
The high-flying ELECTRIC ANGEL! (Melissa)
COMING SOON TO A THEATER (or actual play forum as the case may be) NEAR YOU!
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on May 16, 2014 13:36:27 GMT
While we figure out how to model the heroes, some information: the setting is here and now, the tone is Bronze Age more or less (no " heroes" splattering villains with automatic weapons, villains prefer to capture and/or mock and humiliate heroes rather than kill them), and all the heroes are assumed to have a few issues of their solo comic books under their belts before play begins.
Hero profile #1: NIGHT TERROR: wears a black cowl and cape, curved goat/devil horns on cowl, red bodysuit, black gloves/boots/shorts, grey skull symbol on chest, mostly just athletic but has some fear-inducing powers (or gadgets, hasn't been decided for sure yet), secret ID is a deputy district attorney in San Diego County fed up with technicalities letting dirtbags get off scot-free: if his ID is ever exposed, not only will his career be kaput but likely there would be many overturned convictions on any cases he so much as looked at, so protecting his secret is a priority.
Oh, and NT's cowl has a protruding, grotesque nose like you see on those creepy masks they wore in the Italian Renaissance!
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on May 16, 2014 13:49:35 GMT
Hero profile #2: BLACK QUASAR is an astronomer who was observing a distant quasar when an inexplicable ray originating somewhere in said quasar was aimed directly at him at Palomar Observatory and zapped him. He was comatose for a week and awoke with "quasar powers": flight, energy zap, a force field, and the ability to absorb cosmic energy into himself to boost his strength (these may be ultra-type powers). He wears a black domino mask, white gloves, black boots, and a black-and-blue bodysuit reminiscent of the Silver Age Atom's, and on his chest is a black-and-gold diamond-shaped "quasar" symbol. He fights crime and injustice mainly because it's the right thing to do when you grew up on comic books--as I mentioned before, the game is set in the here and now so this guy grew up reading Spider-Man and what not.
BQ does sometimes worry about the source of his powers: why? does it signify anything? was it a message from "out there"?
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on May 16, 2014 17:27:43 GMT
Hero profile #3: The HOODED SWORDSMAN is a master martial artist who also wields a magical katana. In his secret ID he is a San Diego County social worker. He wears a black executioner's hood, black gloves/boots/shorts, and a dark green bodysuit. His sword (at least for now) was apparently crafted by a Japanese wizard for battling wicked bushi and yakuza in ancient times. It's not clear how HS obtained it yet. He doesn't talk much when in costume. Probably some evil yakuza types and/or mystic types will want to take it from him.
Oh, and he keeps his katana in a scabbard on his back so he can reach back and whip it out lickety-split but also to keep it from getting in the way of his kung fu moves and what have you.
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on May 17, 2014 3:46:08 GMT
Hero profile #4: ELECTRIC ANGEL can project lightning bolts, fly, sheathe herself in an electric force field, and stick to surfaces via static cling. She's also a heck of a swimmer and at home underwater, though she still has to breathe air. In her secret ID, she performs stunts at aquatic shows at San Diego's Sea World. She gained her powers due to a freak mishap with radiation and an electric eel. She wears a dark blue leotard with amber-tinted goggles and white boots. On her chest she wears a grey stormcloud with a bright yellow lightning bolt shooting out from the bottom. Secret ID not completely figured out yet.
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on May 17, 2014 3:52:59 GMT
Hero profile #5: ALPHA WOLF is a wolfman, not a werewolf. He doesn't change back and forth from man to wolf and such; he's more like the Lon Chaney Wolfman except his fur is grey and he's much larger and more heavily muscled. He used to be a park ranger inthe back country of San Diego County until he stumbled across an illegal drug-cultivating operation. The crooks outnumbered him and left him for dead, but a wandering Kumeyaay (American Indian if you don't know the name) shaman used a strange elixir to save his life; however, it also had the side effect of permanently bonding him with his totem animal: the wolf. As he has no secret ID, AW is a full-time adventurer. As wolves go, he's mild-mannered. He has incredible strength and speed, wolf-like senses, and the ability to summon and communicate with canines.
His costume, as it were, is a simple tribute to the Incredible Hulk: purple shorts and nothing more.
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on May 17, 2014 4:04:30 GMT
Even without having DNPCs and/or Hunteds defined yet, I can already see a lot to work with in those brief summaries. NIGHT TERROR can lead us into urban crimefighting, BLACK QUASAR brings us a sort of sci-fi angle, ALPHA WOLF has mystical/horror undercurrents, ELECTRIC ANGEL can lead the stories into aquatic scenarios, and the HOODED SWORDSMAN has yakuza and magic and the Orient.
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on May 26, 2014 23:48:34 GMT
Well, ELECTRIC ANGEL has had a scheduling conflict and will probably not be a part of the game. On the bright side, this was learned before the first session so there's no need to explain her sudden disappearance. We will soldier on as a fantastic foursome. The first scenario was loosely adapted from "Day of the Octopus" from the old TSR Marvel Super Heroes game (a wonderfully fun game in itself). I hope to post the play-by-play or at least a brief synopsis as soon as I have the time to sit down for more than a few minutes.
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on Jun 13, 2014 1:04:39 GMT
Well, first we lost Electric Angel before we even had an actual game session. Then Hooded Swordsman got transferred. Now Black Quasar has work schedule problems. Ugh. Such seems to be the fate of most games I try to get going these days.
|
|
|
Post by CRTaylor on Jun 25, 2014 15:55:10 GMT
that's really frustrating as a GM. All that work trying to get adventures ready and all the scheduling efforts to have it all fall apart.
|
|
|
Post by tikiman on Jun 25, 2014 23:42:44 GMT
that's really frustrating as a GM. All that work trying to get adventures ready and all the scheduling efforts to have it all fall apart. It certainly is. I wish I could find more folks willing to try new things (i.e., Hero), but almost everyone seems to want D&D or a variant thereof. I like other genres much better than elves-n-hobbits.
|
|