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WELCOME TO THE SECRET WARS!
This is the OOC thread for my forthcoming Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition SECRET WARS game. This thread will initially be used for character creation and, once the game starts, will be reserved for "out-of-character" discussions.
GAME CONCEPT
This game is based on Marvel Comics' SECRET WARS limited series, published 1984-85. If you're not familiar with the series, I recommend you find some way to read it. Here are some links that may help you: Secret Wars - marvel.com and Secret Wars - Wikipedia. Though the game is based on the Secret Wars limited series, this game is not set in the Marvel universe/setting and does not use those characters; think of the foregoing as flavor and structure more than story. More about the setting and characters below.
The characters, both PCs and NPCs, are whisked off to a distant world/dimension and are separated into two camps, one consisting of "good" and "neutral" characters, and one consisting of "evil" characters. The rest of the circumstances and rules of this concept will be made clear during play. For now, keep the general idea in mind.
SETTING
This is a "four-color" setting. This means bigger-than-life heroes and villains. Your characters are some of the toughest, smartest, and most powerful beings in the known universe. In a "four-color" setting, the gritty and realistic is "filed off" and replaced with action and high adventure. Characters tend to have purer motivations and allegiances (though not EVERYTHING is black and white). Heroes are heroes and villains are villains. The "antihero" concept is not really in vogue.
In this setting, supers are a known commodity in society. They've been around in pop culture since about World War II and some of the longer-lived supers have histories going back even further. Very few supers are "out"; most of them have secret identities to protect their privacy and loved ones. Other than the introduction of super powers, aliens, magic, and ultra technology into the universe, the rest is as our own world. Certain things have changed with the introduction of these concepts, but it isn't something you really need to consider. Superheroes and supervillains exist and your character is one of the good guys.
CHARACTERS
This game uses the Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition rules. In order to make characters and play in this game, you must have access to a copy of these rules.
The player characters are members of a super-team called FOREVER FREEDOM. Each of you are "legacy" heroes; a parent or relative has somehow "handed down" their powers or equipment to you in order to continue their legacy of fighting supervillains and other crime. Beyond that guideline, you are free to create what you wish, as long as it generally fits into the "classic" four-color theme. If you're not sure if your idea is classic, it probably isn't. I'll help people craft their characters to fit into the game concept.
Characters are PL10 heroes, built using 150pp. The standard character creation rules apply, though some advantages and powers may not be legal because of the game concept. We'll go over those on a case-by-case basis. The characters have worked together for a while and should be created with that in mind.
Here is a list of the major heroes in the setting. Your characters have some knowledge of all of these NPCs and could have a history with one or more of them.
THE ATOMIC LEAGUE
The Atomic League is a group of scientists who were transformed by their nuclear experiments into super-powered beings. Though they are ostensibly "good", the law and the public do not trust them.
Core: Acts as a "battery" for radiation-based powers
Halflife: Projects radiation
Lady Nuke: Has radiation-based melee attacks and effects
Meltdown: Superheats materials
THE CRUSADERS
The Crusaders are a quasi-governmental entity first established to keep various super-powered beings from becoming national security threats. Though the Crusaders are associated with the US Government and other world governments, they act independently (for the most part).
Between: Teleporter
Captain Epsilon: Super strong with some magical equipment
Glitter Girl: Uses magic dust and beams to blind and damage
Metabo-Lad: Has superhuman speed and metabolism
Prodigy: Telekinetic and telepathic powers
Steelclad: Armored suit
Super-Fly: Shrinks and becomes strong and quick
SOLO HEROES
Avatu: Alien from another dimension with super advanced technology
The Duelist: Immortal swordsman
Omen: Uses precognition and other psionic abilities in melee combat
Velocity: Speedster
And the major villains of the setting are:
ASSAULT & BATTERY
This pair of thuggish supervillains are pretty powerful together, less effective apart.
Assault: Charges up improvised weapons
Battery: Strong and tough, a tank
MAIDENS OF MAYHEM
The Maidens of Mayhem are an all-female group of supervillains.
Amp: Lightning powers
Entropy: Destroys objects and weakens her foes
Epicenter: Causes earthquakes
Jade: A ninja, with all that entails
Scream: Uses sonic powers
TURMOIL
Turmoil is the major supervillain group of the setting. They are most often set against the Crusaders.
The Claw: Uses a powerful ultra-technology claw
Dr. Hand: Telekinetic powers
The Golem: Magical construct, a tank
Lilith: A demoness with mind control powers
Midnight Shadow: Uses various darkness based effects
Mountain: A tank that grows to epic size
Obsidian: Uses strange black energy to various effects
Red-Eye: A sniper of superhuman ability
SOLO VILLAINS
The Mask: Uses gadgetry and super skills (think evil Batman)
Nemesis: Steals powers
The Oracle: Superior magical abilities
Queen Cyborg: A giant cybermechanical villain
Tick-Tock: Time-based powers
POSTING EXPECTATIONS
My goal is to update this game three times a week. It will be updated more often during story/dialogue time than during combat. I would like players to commit to posting about that often. Generally, I will post an "update" that will include multiple player posts and a brief rundown on what is happening. If you've played in my games before, you will recognize this. I do this to make sure everyone is on the same page. We'll discuss posting in combat at a later time.
WELCOME TO THE SECRET WARS, CHUM!
Last edited by Insight; 29th October 2011 at 11:32 PM..
Looks like I missed the interest check thread, and looks like there's a pretty sizable amount of interest. If there's an opening, though, I'd be interested. The idea of legacy heroes if a fun one, as the 'new generation' tries to eke out it's own niche in the shadow of a predecessor.
So there is already an actual Union Jack in the marvel mythos (And there are 3 prior XD), I did not know this at the time of writing. Now to think up a better concept/name!
So in writing up an alternate I realised this will be the more fun character to roleplay and less of a rip off than my other idea(<- this is what is known in the writing world as 'irony'). SO BEHOLD! Union Jack! who is the 4th in line of succession of Union Jacks. He is effectively a mass produced (and British) version of Captain America. He is strong, smart and is a expertly trained black ops soldier. However unlike the previous 3 Union Jack's who fought bravely with honor and distinction for Queen and Country and were paragon of the English Knighthood whom they were members of. Eric is a Manchester native and before his time in the service of the queens army he'd been arrested several times in connection with pub brawl and football riots. While undoubtedly a valuable asset on the battlefield, his social manners are less than what one would expect of a knight of the realm. Basically, soccer hooligan given enhanced strength and senses and the best of the best training with weapons, hand to hand fighting and military tactics.
Hes not really an anti-hero, hes just kind of a prick ;p
Last edited by no-tweed; 11th October 2011 at 01:08 AM..
A 'temporal speedster,' who doesn't really go fast...but rather makes everyone ELSE go slow. Pretty standard speedster, except powers are based on time control, not heightened metabolism or Speed Force or whatnot.
A plant controller, who's powers are based on whatever plants are around, but also carries seeds that she can cause to grow to make specific plants wit specific effects. Lots of afflictions and area effects.
Ok, the concept I was having in mind worked (I think) up until the "handed down" part.
But I guess it would still work, just that the "spark" would have happened to a parent.
Anyways... here is what I am thinking so far for a character concept:
Blitz has inherited her powers from her mother, who was (when she was young) struck by a powerful lightning bolt during a raging storm. Instead of burning her, however, she somehow transformed into lightning herself, or rather she became able to turn herself into lightning.
I basically thought about a bit of a mix between Speedster and Energy Controller here.
Her Powers would include Super Speed (turn into lightning and zip away; no Quickness though, as that doesn't make sense), Teleportation (within line of sight only, but with the ability to zap through an opponent and damaging him or her that way; which would be her standard way of attacking -- and I'm quite sure I have read exactly that somewhere as an option... just don't remember whether it was M&M2 or HERO, but I suppose it should be somehow doable with Linked or such ), Insubstantial: Energy (maybe bought up to Reaction, if I can afford it, and it is ok in general), maybe Fly (while Insubstantial), and Regeneration (only when within reach of a source of electricity; a generator, high-voltage, lightning storm, stuff like that).
She would be very agile, but not very strong (i.e. a lot more Dodge/Parry than Toughness, and a bit more Will than Fort).
She would look like a cute, blonde girl with blue jeans, chucks, and a purple t-shirt with a white or yellow stylized lightning bolt on it.
What do you think? Does that fit your idea of 4-color?
And one question:
"whisked off to a distant world/dimension"
That means, we were born on, say, Earth, where the parents (still) are, too, but before the campaign begins, we (but not our parents or other people we know; other than the other PCs, that is) were somehow brought to a distant world (which is similar to our Earth, but not the same).
Is that about right?
And when did it happen (i.e. how long before the campaign starting time)?
And another question... those Tradeoffs are standard M&M3 (or did you change them somehow, which I didn't really notice yet )?
Bye
Thanee
P.S. I'm not familiar with Secret Wars, but there should be enough information about to change that soon.
__________________
“In our world, immortality is not for the living. The legend lives on!”
In Memoriam Dave Arneson († April 7th, 2009) & Gary Gygax († March 4th, 2008).
Wondering what the Dungeon Tiles are like? Take a look here.
Awesome! I loved the secret wars.. actually i generally loved a lot about comics from that period. Heading out to Thanksgiving dinner (Canadian), will post char. concept after.
<snip concept>
What do you think? Does that fit your idea of 4-color?
Yes, your concept seems fine so far. I'll know better when I see the build.
In terms of the "legacy" part, would it be possible that a mother or father was the one hit by lightning? Perhaps the parent was still able to function (ie make babies) and your character came out with the same functional powers.
Quote:
And one question:
"whisked off to a distant world/dimension"
That means, we were born on, say, Earth, where the parents (still) are, too, but before the campaign begins, we (but not our parents or other people we know; other than the other PCs, that is) were somehow brought to a distant world (which is similar to our Earth, but not the same).
Is that about right?
And when did it happen (i.e. how long before the campaign starting time)?
The start of the game will be once you are whisked off to the other planet / dimension. Your characters have lives back home on Earth, ie, you should have some strong motivation to want to go back there.
Quote:
And another question... those Tradeoffs are standard M&M3 (or did you change them somehow, which I didn't really notice yet )?
Those are the standard trade-offs per the book. I wanted to make sure they were stated specifically in the thread so that people would have them in mind.
oh, so many options I'd love to try, just gotta decide which fits best.
Right now my lead contenders are Inertia and Optic.
Optic's a character I've played before and enjoyed. He's a mutant/techie, numerous eyepowers and a low/mid-end battlesuit. More high tech lightweight armour than a battlesuit, includes a visor that enhances his mutant eye powers. The original concept was a 2nd-gen mutant anyways, so that part still fits well.
optic backstory
The 28 year old Jack Carson is near the peak of human perfection.. Strong, fast, healthy, smart, charming. He's a well-known, respected, and admired businessman with contacts everywhere, The vice president of Op-Tec, a company that specializes in fiber-optics and computer technology, specifically with regards to Military contracts. He has been involved in numerous athletic competitions. He's also not entirely Human... Jack Carson is, in his off-time, the mutant super-hero known as Optic.
Optic has been fighting crime in one form or another for over a decade. He's a 2nd generation mutant and super hero, son of Bendy-Girl(Deceased) and a computer technician named William Carson(Retired Businessman, founder of Op-Tec). With his current status and contacts in the company his father built, he was able to gain access to an experimental super-suit of very light-weight material, and a custom-made visor which enhances his allready impressive array of eye powers. For the past several years, he's been splitting his time between helping to run the company alongside his older sister (Claren, no known mutation) and using a combination of his skills, mutant super powers, and enhanced technology to fight terrorists, super-villains, and general all-around bad guys.
Inertia is a combo of super-speed and immovability. When he's standing still he's like a mountain, when he's moving he's near impossible to stop.
He's a Legacy hero on both sides, his mother being a speedster and his father a powerhouse. He hasn't gained the full power of either, his own powers being a somewhat mix&match of his parents abilities. He has done his best to live up to their legacy, however, learning to use his abilities as a super-hero.
Inertia's personality would be much more fluid and 'human' than Optic, who is somewhat 'robotic' due to his technical leanings and upbringing.
Edit: Really, I was writing this while Jemal posted his character ideas.
Okay, I'm thinking a battlesuit type. The idea is that my character was part of a team at a start-up company designing its battlesuits with an eye to winning a military contract; just before the contract was awarded, a group of supervillains attacked the company headquarters, killed many key personnel, and made off with or destroyed all but one of the prototypes. He found himself the only surviving stockholder, and so owned all the assets the company had left (and a lot of debts, but fortunately they did have insurance). He sold off what he could make himself part with (as there was no chance of getting things back together before the bidding period was over), but kept the suit and enough equipment to support it. Still, his public response was to take the insurance money, invest enough to give him an upper middle class living off of his investments, and then start a new start up outside of the defense industry making video games (he was the lead programmer for the suit's control software and built a lot of simulations to test it).
But privately he sought out Metal Man. He knew there had been at least three previous heroes by that name -- or at least three different suits over sixty years. And he figured there must have been different men underneath them. He'd been right.
The first had been a soldier in WWII, part of a top-secret project to stop Nazi super-science. After the war, he'd managed to keep the suit somehow. When a troubled young Vietnam vet had stumbled into the first Metal Man's path, he'd somehow ended up training the man and conning one of the super-scientists he knew from super hero circles into building a new suit. The third had been the scion of a major defense contractor, who after his parents had been murdered by super-villians had wanted to fight crime on his own, and had his company build him a suit to do it with. The second Metal Man had taught the third a lot about the limits to what one guy in a battlesuit could do. And the third was just beginning to think of what to do when it was time to hang up his suit when my character showed up at his door. He'd kind of been expecting it; the third Metal Man's alter ego had been an angel investor in my character's company. After a few years of training and practice -- as much on how to run a major company as to fight in a battlesuit -- the third Metal Man retired and my character assumed the role.
He has a wife and a child; his wife is the only one other than the third Metal Man that knows his alter ego, and not many people remember the original start-up. He's managed to put those directly responsible for destroying his first company in prison, though he's always worried there were bigger players in the shadows.
Out of suit, he looks like a not particularly athletic white guy in his 30s (though one with expert-level computer programming skills). He's often in a business suit for corporate functions, but it's very clear that he's far more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.
Yes, your concept seems fine so far. I'll know better when I see the build.
Will put something together then, so you can have a look.
Quote:
In terms of the "legacy" part, would it be possible that a mother or father was the one hit by lightning? Perhaps the parent was still able to function (ie make babies) and your character came out with the same functional powers.
That's exactly what I wrote up there (mother was hit by lightning, powers are inherited; original idea was, obviously, different, but that should work as well).
Quote:
Those are the standard trade-offs per the book. I wanted to make sure they were stated specifically in the thread so that people would have them in mind.
Ok.
Bye
Thanee
P.S. And I remember now, where I read the teleport+lightning bolt stuff... it was a 3.5/Pathfinder arcane spell.
Guess I will just use Move-By-Attack for that and skip the whole Teleport part... way easier!
__________________
“In our world, immortality is not for the living. The legend lives on!”
In Memoriam Dave Arneson († April 7th, 2009) & Gary Gygax († March 4th, 2008).
Wondering what the Dungeon Tiles are like? Take a look here.
Recent News
), Insubstantial: Energy (maybe bought up to Reaction, if I can afford it, and it is ok in general), maybe Fly (while Insubstantial), and Regeneration (only when within reach of a source of electricity; a generator, high-voltage, lightning storm, stuff like that).
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