Making superhero gear make sense (mostly Marvel related)

[Relique du Madde]

It happened in the 1990's during the Clone Saga (so it was the Peter and Mary Jane era still).

Clone Saga? What was that.



On a said note, Is it me or are the only heroic/anti-heroic characters who wear "special ops." styled outfits all tied to a government*, or at least in the Marvel Universe?


* Except for Assassins and members of evil paramilitary organizations.

 

[Cyronax]

Clone Saga? What was that.



On a said note, Is it me or are the only heroic/anti-heroic characters who wear "special ops." styled outfits all tied to a government*, or at least in the Marvel Universe?


* Except for Assassins and members of evil paramilitary organizations.

Well X-Men wear black utilitarian leather/special ops in some incarnations and eras.

Captain America has gone through phases of a more utilitarian or governmental look, even when he wasn't on the govt. dime.

And I seem to remember a lot of superhero artists shifting away from colorful costumes towards more 'realistic' costumes in the 90's as well. Like I alluded to, this trend was sort of reflected in Rob Liefield's art. Image comics did a lot of this, if I recall.


Speaking of making a certain style or type of gear 'work':

I always thought that the supervillain Grimbor the Chainsman, sported a special style all his own.

He's a villain from DC Universe's super-advanced 31st Century, yet he looks like he fits in better elsewhere ......

Guess he's priming his Nature check in case he has to deal with bears.

And then there's Sue Storm in the late 90's........she's going for a prime Diplomacy check. Her gear is currently invisible.

And then there's this version of the Spider-Man costume:

I think the symbiote ate a little too much.

 

[thejc]

...did you really just use Iron Man as an example of superheroic minimalism? O_O

Actually I was going the other way with that...thought I cleared that up with the whole the more powerful they are the less gear they need unless it's crucial to the character bit but sorry about the confusion.

 

[thejc]

BTW ... Thor's hammer should never be in the same league as Cap's Shield or the Iron Man armor.

Ok obviously my post wasn't that clear since I've been misquoted twice from the same reply in one thread lol.

Once again I just said that hero's on the upper end of the scale use less gear. I never compared the artifact Mjolnir which was infact forged by the most powerful deity in Asgard to a high output power suit or a vibranium/adamantium alloy shield. They were merely examples.

Back to the original question, I think PKitty hit it right on the nose. Style. They can. They don't want to look like S.W.A.T.

We must remember that above all Hero's are symbols, icons of the best that lies within us all and they do that through their actions and...uhm...their colorfull suits.

 

[Mark Chance]

If a Cyborg can only be killed by a microwave, that's awesome: 99.9% of weapons are not high energy microwave weapons. There aren't even superheroes who use Microwaves, at least not many, and they may not even be working this particular case.

Microwave Mom: Cyborg Destroyer.

 

[Umbran]

The above is correct, but doesn't go far enough. Generally, players who load their super-hero characters down with gear are generally NOT being genre-inappropriate, because they aren't actually playing in a spandex universe. The GM is the guy who is violating the genre. Why? Skin-tight superheros don't encounter things that screw them over because they aren't geared up.

It is the GM's job to screw them over! The players have effectively asked the GM to sit there and throw hard-to-handle tasks at them! Does Spider Man ever have it easy? NO! He's always hosed! Superman? Batman? Same.

The error is in thinking that you can win an arms race with the GM, and that you actually *want* to win such an arms race. The glee of having all the right tools so that you've got little to no risk is cool once or twice, but as a regular game it quickly gets boring.

 

[Umbran]

I never compared the artifact Mjolnir which was infact forged by the most powerful deity in Asgard

Um, no. In both the eddas and in Marvel canon, the hammer is made by the dwarven blacksmiths - Eitri and his brother Brokkr. As part of a bet, Loki commissioned them to make treasures, and the hammer was one of them.

Mjöllnir - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mjolnir_(comics)

 

[Kraydak]

It is the GM's job to screw them over! The players have effectively asked the GM to sit there and throw hard-to-handle tasks at them! Does Spider Man ever have it easy? NO! He's always hosed! Superman? Batman? Same.

The error is in thinking that you can win an arms race with the GM, and that you actually *want* to win such an arms race. The glee of having all the right tools so that you've got little to no risk is cool once or twice, but as a regular game it quickly gets boring.

Does a non-flier run into a deep hole that can't be climbed down and needs rope and rappelling without there being a convenient coil of rope nearby? Does a non-super-strength character run into heavy objects to move that need elaborate rope-and-pulley setups?

I'm not talking about arms-races. I'm talking about the stupid stuff. Screwdrivers to open access panels. Nightvision goggles because the opposition is environmentally conscious and turns out the lights. Spare batteries in lead-lined boxes because there are energy-drainers out there. Entrenching tools, because digging with your bare hands doesn't work too well.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It happened in the 1990's during the Clone Saga (so it was the Peter and Mary Jane era still). Admittedly Peter was slightly out of his mind, but this event is often brought up as an example of one character getting a pass for something while another one doesn't. In this case I was just joking about Hank Pym being forever tied to domestic abuse, when he did more or less the same thing that Peter did.

Still zero recollection of it.

Speaking of Clone Saga, did you get out of comics because of that horrendous story perhaps?

C.I.D.

Nah, it wasn't any one thing in particular, but an aggregation of factors:

1. Ho-hum writing in general- I felt I wasn't getting my $$$ worth.
2. Money was a bit tighter for me at the time
3. Sheer volume: i gave up comics in 1996, and yet my collection currently takes up the same volume of space as a car- no joke. I simply foresaw a point where storing it would be impossible. (Currently organizing it and putting an approximate appraisal value on it to get rid of it, FWIW.)

 

[Umbran]

I'm not talking about arms-races. I'm talking about the stupid stuff.

You're still trying to beat challenges by having the right gear - that's an arms race. List out all your gear. The GM can construct a scenario you aren't prepared for. And, as I said, it is the GM's job to present a challenge - it is supposed to be difficult, no matter what gear you are carrying.

This is a difference between games and real life - in real life you want life-and-death struggles to be as easy as possible. But easy in a game is boring.

Your non-strong hero is faced with a heavy object? Well, if the GM is a real jerk, there's no other way to deal with it than by block and tackle. But, for the majority of the time, there's some way around the obstacle that uses something you can do. That's part of the genre, too, you know. The heroes have the stuff, but they sometimes have to use some ingenuity.