John T Posted July 30, 2004 Report Share Posted July 30, 2004 What story/campaign related events has anyone here used to coax several acquainted but non-organized supers to form an actual team? John T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acroyear Posted July 30, 2004 Report Share Posted July 30, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks One that I'm toying with is that there's a Time Traveler who visits one of the characters and warns him that his team is the target of time-traveling villains, trying to kill them off before they come togather as "The super guys" (whatever) so that they can never stop their plot 5 years from now. When he learns this team doesn't exist, he insists they go find Captain Amazing (or whatever) the leader of the team to get things started... only there isn't a Captain Amazing. That "man" died 5 years ago in an unexplained accident. Uh oh... better round up the other members, they are ALL in danger. It's basically the "common threat" theme, but it allows you to easily add in new characters because "at this time, this person is supposed to be a member..." comes the little Mr. Spock tip from the time traveller who keeps trying to set things right, but doesn't have very good control of his power. He misses key time points a lot and, as a result, his future knowledge isn't 100% reliable except for major things. Like what the team roster is and where a major threat might occur (because the team responded to it, but in the current timeline, they don't have all the members - some are dead, so he also makes a great "the plot is this way!" device) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted July 30, 2004 Report Share Posted July 30, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks I'm a fan of the common threat element. In a campaign I started many years ago, I had almost all the groups Hunteds show up in the first adventure. Not all at once or working together, but enough to get those character interested in suddenly having friends. For the rest, I used their DNPCs. The bonds formed in that adventure lasted the campaign (more or less). I have also used the common benifactor, the guy or organization that brings/introduced the group together. It's not as compelling as bringing the characters together through circumstance, nor to the characters form as strong a bond, but it keeps the loners and anti-authority types with the group. It also gets the group together a lot faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkham Posted July 30, 2004 Report Share Posted July 30, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks I am using a varient on the 'common benefactor' to get the team together. The auditions are actually part of a new reality show called 'West Coast Supers'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magmarock Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks Or you can skip all that, form a time-line and have th group already be formed. THis works just fine. It allows you to set up the team in an OOC discussion. By the way Acroyear, your Time-travel idea is wonderful! I love Time-travel! Mags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nexus Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks I'm actually using the Time Travel angle for my latest game, Vanguard so far its working well and the players are secretly rolling their eyes but going along with it. I've never like just starting as a team. It always feel so staged to me, but that's just a personal preference. I think it could work. If you can arrange it the shared origin is a good schtick, like the Fantastic Four. Drafted if you want an offical team is an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks Some common ones Ive used in the past for supers: Most Common: Independent Responses To Same Threat Second Most Common: Shared Origin Third Most Common: Recruited/Solicited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bblackmoor Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks When he learns this team doesn't exist' date=' he insists they go find Captain Amazing (or whatever) the leader of the team to get things started... only there isn't a Captain Amazing. That "man" died 5 years ago in an unexplained accident.[/quote'] I have used the "threat from the future" idea a couple of times, but that's a great twist! I like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acroyear Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks By the way Acroyear' date=' your Time-travel idea is wonderful! I love Time-travel![/quote'] Basically, the whole thing is the "plot" moves in a singular direction. The bad guys either bump off the heroes and conquer the world (or whatever) or the heroes come together to stop them. For the confused time traveler, the devil is in the details. He doesn't know everything, just second hand knowledge. Add to that, things keep changing... and changing. His only saving grace is that things are rolling in the same direction the "plot" always has (my concept is that he's really just a scientist with a time gizmo/power, anyone can kick his butt). The actual idea is much better than how I phrased it in the prior post and involves like 3 repetitions of the same period in time as the bad guys and the good guy influence events and then go back and try to stop that influence, etc. The travellers become disconnected from time (so even though their timeline might cease to exist, they continue). The bad guys get around this issue by killing off their modern counterparts and taking their place (which fails the 3rd time around, because bad guy set #2 already knows they ambush themselves to take their places, so they set a counter-ambush). You can have as many loops as you want, really. Yes, this also means there are multiple good time travelers. It's easy to bump them off, too. Like so: Time Traveler: Ok, Superguy, I'm going to try to bounce a year into the past and save Captain DaBomb. Superguy: Ok, good luck, buddy. Time traveler vanishes. The next play session, or a month later, or heck, even ten minutes later depending on your mood. Time traveler appears. Time traveler: Superguy, at some point in time, it's important that you not let me try to go back and save Captain DaBomb. Very important! Superguy: Well, uh, you did that last Tuesday. Time traveler: (smacks forehead) Damn, one of my chronological parallels has been killed before I could get updates on what and what hasn't been changed by our meddling. I'll try to go back and save him to get the information... Superguy: I think that might be a bad idea considering whatever happens there kills Captain DaBomb and the other-you. The you-you might get killed, too, along with the other-you. Have I mentioned I hate talking to you guys? Other fun things could be in situations where you use the time traveler in the Spock/Data fashion and he gives a hint about something. After the situation is resolved, the time traveler can then ask the players about a couple details and then say "Ok, I'm going a couple hours into the past to let you guys know this stuff." It's weird, it's paradoxy, and it's also helps with why he doesn't have all the answers (he just doesn't know them, he needs to get them from others). You can eventually end the "loops" and time travel stuff by having the bad guys switch gears to tracking down and going after the good time traveler(s). They may, eventually go after the "modern scientist" who becomes the time traveler. Once he's gone/dead/whatever no more loops are possible (since he doesn't invent the device or whatnot). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amused Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks Do the whole Shadow Run thing. Have somebody call the group together to fight some Big bad or whatever of course anding intrigue with the employer being evil and just trying to distract the group from His evil plans. OR making the employer the Charles Xavier type to pull the supers together into an actual permanent team to *cue theme music* fight evil and protect the city. Both ieas aren't oringinal I know but they do help pull the group into a team. ~Amused ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vorsch Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks Have one of the players actively recruit the other players pre game. Probabillily cos hes aware of some plot or vilain and he needs help, works for the detective, mystic and telepath types who neem muscle to back them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Mhoram Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks For my college game it was mostly just location. I ran a series of semi-solo bits with each character paired with one of the others, then ran the first full team run, and because they had all already met most of the others, a loose team formed. For my Mystic Masters game they were all recruited for a specific mission by the benefactor and ended up staying together. In my JLA-esque game they will all be recruited or volunteer for the worlds pre-eminent superteam, for which there will be a semi-open call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks I almost always use accidental meet-ups fighting the same crime and then finding common interest. It puts some onus on the players, but it seems to have worked okay. However, in my current long-running supers campaign there was actually a manipulative force behind their "chance" meeting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks What story/campaign related events has anyone here used to coax several acquainted but non-organized supers to form an actual team? One of my favorites being a player in is the 4E VIPER source book. Basically several seeming unrelated minor activities that are related and brings people together. Minor alterations work for any team. One I've tried is an already existing superhero team to do a recruitment drive. Variances include the superhero team being kidnapped and the PCs investigate and join together (maybe the kidnapping was real, maybe a test). Or have the team have cancelled the recruitment, but the message was intercepted. When various heroes show up at the recruitment drive, a villain team ambushes them. If you have VOICE of Doom, that can be a great starter, if not, just have a low-powered hero team be assassinated one by one (once a week) and the hero team puts a call out for stalwart heroes to assist. Throw in some minor adventures (good ole bank robbery) in between. Maybe the "original" team is all killed, or maybe not. Make sure your villain team is filled with blood-thirsty killers, though. One other I ran, two of the PCs were related to the same NPC on a hero team, though they didn't know it. (It was the Protectors, one was Huntsman's cousin, the other his niece.) The Protectors helped them form their own team. (They eventually found out about each other's hero ID, but it was fun for them roleplaying the secrecy issue.) Lastly, always see if any of the players are willing to know each other before hand. This helps on the number of scenarios used to get people together, plus, if any PC has 10-15 points of wealth, they could start building a base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanguard00 Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks I saw this on a PBEM site years ago, and more recently in JLA: Have the players be the "replacement" characters for an established superteam. Said team disappears under mysterious circumstances and after a short period of time, the public realizes they aren't coming back. One person, maybe a retired member of said superteam, receives "In case of emergency" message that gives a recommendation from each of the established team members. Maybe they saw potential. Maybe they know the PC in question...whatever. The PBEM I saw it on, if I remember correctly, pulled it off fairly well. The JLA one didn't go that badly, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted August 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks Campaign Spoiler Warning: I've considered killing off the in-place NPC group to encourage them to fill the void. John T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinecone Posted August 2, 2004 Report Share Posted August 2, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks My most hated trick was having The Atomic general frame the characters so he could blackmail them into attacking the island of Dr.destroyer (one, he is a b*stard...two he needed to not get the US of A's Tatas in a wringer if things went wrong) it set the tone for the run....gave it a real "X-men" feel...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterD Posted August 3, 2004 Report Share Posted August 3, 2004 Re: Group Formation Schticks DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE IN THE HEROIC GENESIS GAME ON HERO CENTRAL!!!!! Spoilers OK. In the game I am running (Heroic Genesis on HEro Central) so players. Either stop reading or remeber this is Out of character information. OK. The players are role playing thier origins now. (Since I am new to GMing they are going one at a time (I thank them for their patients) After that a few weeks will pass (as they do their solo thing. Then a benifactor will track thier activities and unite them into a team. The benifactor will aid them with basic resources (base, comunications, and transportation). After a while (with luck) One of the heores/heroines will discover that the benifactor is really the master Villan and is using the heores to get rid of his competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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