Tjack

Wouldn’t there have to be something akin to the weight-classes in Boxing and wrestling? Otherwise it just becomes a rating system. With athletic events in the real world there’s appreciation for excellence achieved through personal sacrifice and ability. With superpowers it’s kind of like allowing every athlete to take performance enhancers. It might be a fun idea for a night of play but it doesn’t really hold up to a lot of overthinking....like a lot of other things about superheroing.

I chose Settings because I think it’s the first step in creating a game. NPC’s and adventures are only useful for the particular type of game they’re made for. Ones created for modern day superhero games aren’t very useful in a fantasy game and neither can do much for a Cyberpunk or Espionage one. New rules books are only needed to describe the world you’ve already decided to play in. You don’t buy Western Hero to play in the 1930’s or to do a game set in the Far Future. But creating a new and original setting that can fire the imagination of a potential new player of that game will generate the need for materials to help a GM with the hardware (rules) and software (NPC’s & Adventures) to build that game world for years to come.

You half a Nazi bastid! Your time is coming! He’s coming back with something special for you straight from The Great Pumpkin!!!!

I think at some point there’s going to be a subsection of Disney films...”The Ride Movies”. Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Tomorrowland and now Jungle Cruise. In the Before Times movies used to inspire rides and other attractions. Frontierland came about from the success of the Davy Crockett films. The Dumbo flying elephant ride also comes to mind. Even with the critical and monetary success of these, I’ve never been comfortable with situations where business created the art. Not supported, but created. “OK guys, accounting says we’re shelling out a bundle for copyrights on these rides.” “So let’s come up with something based on them to generate new capital for the corporation.” “Bobby whatta ‘ya got for me?...Go!” “Uhhhh...Waiting Line: The Movie!?!” “Huh, we don’t have that copyright yet, but you’re on the right track!” “Jimbo, what have you got?”

ALL HAIL OUR BELOVED FELINE OVERLORDS!!!!! ANY REBELLION WILL BE MET WITH WET HAIRBALLS IN YOUR SLIPPERS AND URINE ON YOUR KEYBOARDS!!!!!!! THIS WILL HAPPEN ANYWAY....DEAL WITH IT MONKEYS!!!!!

Hey! If you’re the GM you can use those to actually screw your players to the wall.

I just realized if those are accurate descriptions of those power sets then somebody else already did the work for me. The Firebenders from Avatar: The Last Airbender and a character called Stone who was an associate of Stick (Daredevil’s martial arts master from the Frank Miller era.) had those powers and were both trained in esoteric martial arts. Both were born with no powers. So I think they fit the criteria, if they don’t just let me know. This is fun!

Fair challenge. What’s your definitions of “Stone Tank” and “Radiation Defender”? ST sounds like The Thing and RD like Sun Boy but I don’t know if that’s what you meant. Also does this character have BOTH sets of powers or is this for two different characters?

I’m reminded of the X- Men run of the ‘80’s, during Storm’s mowhawk period when she lost her powers and was challenged by Cyclops for leadership of the team since she was now “only human”. She kicked his a$$ up one side of the danger room and down the other. Then continued to lead the team for another year or more. Power sets and origins don’t matter. Once someone decides to put on a mask and run across rooftops all night they stop being like everybody else and become special. Whether it takes radioactive insects, magic words, alien science or just a buttload of crazy and a mountain of money to make that happen, it’s the character of that person you’re creating is the most important thing.

Neat-o!

The better to sneak up on you in the jungle, my dear. Bwah-ha-ha! (mine is an evil laugh)

That’s really all about the creativity (re: ability to spin B.S. into gold) of the person creating the character. Personally I prefer to have a person and a story about them that I want to tell first. Then that tells me what they can do. So all I have left to do is figure out how to describe that in game terms/rules. In example. Once upon a time I read the autobiography of a Navy Seal who served in Vietnam. The character of the man fascinated me and I wanted to play someone like him. I decided to make him into a cross between Captain America & Nick Fury. So now I had an idea of what powers and skills that person would have. Give me an power set and an origin type and I’ll come up with a story that makes it happen. That’s easy...trying to create a person you want living in your head....that’s hard.

There’s gotta be a “Usual Suspects” joke in here somewhere.

That depends on where you set the limits on something like Ch’i for example. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender, but that could give you a full selection of Elemental forces to choose from. And what are Jedi Knights but a bunch of jumped up Shaolin?

DC Comics “Invasion” event during the ‘80’s clarified their policy on origins. They established the “Meta-Gene”. A fraction of the human population has the genetic quirk to allow mutation under outside influences. Basically, Barry Allen who has the gene gets splashed with chemicals hit by lightning...he gets superpowers. Joe Shmoe standing next to him doesn’t have the gene and gets hit with all the same stuff and ends up in the ICU burn ward. Tough break Joe. Elongated Man (yes he’s DC) just happened to be able to metabolize the chemical in the fruit that gave him the powers. Anybody else could eat the stuff by the truckload and the best they could do is be the best student in their Yoga class.

This is kind of a catch 22. Once a “normal person” has some way of using super powers doesn’t that make them a “Super Person”. Take Green Lantern for example. A normal man (if you consider a test pilot normal) is given a ring that turns him into an Alpha level hero. Take the ring away and he’s back to normal. A creator can justify almost anything if they’re creative enough. What exactly is your question/request? Do you just want some fresh ideas for an origin, or are you looking for something more comprehensive in the way of types of origins? You said you weren’t looking for a list, but I don’t know what you are looking for. I’d love to help, but I need a clearer signpost.

Invoking the name of Tom Brady still has a lot of juice here in the Northeast and especially here in Boston.

I rather like my avatar. The Mighty Oranga-Buddha...? No!.....BUDDHA-TANG!!!

I like the blue. Nice job.

Don’t give them any ideas. The next Reddit challenge will probably be “Eat something disgusting till you puke”. (Or die.)

If you truly have no idea what someone or something evil is like I congratulate you on your happy life. Try watching a couple of episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Minds or maybe something on the Holocaust. If all else fails....watch the news almost any night.

I would have let Bill Gates violate me with a chainsaw for a third of what she got.

Knowing a little about the character might help. Whirlwind, Texas Twister and Red Tornado all have the same powers but the very different looking costumes of each says something about that person.

This kind of advice is usually better if we have some idea about the kind of character we’re designing for. A character like Batman or the Shadow won’t generally have the same costume as a Captain America type. A rule of thumb I read once did say that green and purple are often villain colors while reds and blues were more heroic. Have you considered looking at some of the work done on Deviant.com or the work of Storn or other Champions or Comics artists for inspiration?

Actually the lamp from the movie had only one leg as that was the logo for the Nehi (pronounced “knee-high”) soda company. Occasionally on M*A*S*H you’ll hear Radar ask for a Grape Nehi soda. It was a very big company in the Midwestern U.S. And with his King Geek title once more assured, Tjack returned to the Fortress of Geekitude and waited to once again sally forth (since he was being a big Sally) and correct the internet for the enlightenment & entertainment of everyone (re: nobody)