MSH in the 80s

[Quasqueton]

Man that already sound like a fun game.

Thanks.

I don't really plan on playing up the characters all that much. I'm thinking of them more as little Easter eggs in the game.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Quasqueton

 

[Quasqueton]

Hello? <tap, tap, tap> Is this thing on?

I'd really like some feedback on whether using TV characters as "real" characters in the campaign would be a neat or a bad thing.

Also, as a secondary question, what would you like in a super hero game:

Slugfests -- bash and crash

Saving people in disaster scenes

Stopping mundane crimes and catching mundane criminals

Stopping super crimes and catching super criminals

Fighting alien invasions

Battling a group of super bad guys

Battling a single super-duper bad guy



I'm asking my Players these same questions, but I'm curious what you folks here think, too.

Quasqueton

 

[Umbran]

I'd really like some feedback on whether using TV characters as "real" characters in the campaign would be a neat or a bad thing.

I see it as a bit of a one-trick pony - funny/interesting when you first discover it, but kind of irrelevant thereafter.

Slugfests -- bash and crash

Saving people in disaster scenes

These are staples of the genre, so sure.

Stopping mundane crimes and catching mundane criminals

Stopping super crimes and catching super criminals

Fighting alien invasions

The villains should be of appropriate power and interesting to the heroes you've got in the group. The Hulk and the Mighty Thor don't spend a lot of time stopping muggers in the park.

Battling a group of super bad guys

Battling a single super-duper bad guy

I tend to prefer fighting groups of bad guys rather than a single super-duper one, because the group fights call for more teamwork and strategy. When you've got one big target, either you have to simply throw your big guns at it (which isn't interesting) or find the one weakness or trick way to defeat the villain (which often comes off as deus ex machina).

 

[Kafkonia]

I think it's a good thing. But then, I also get a kick out of the street names in Silent Hill, the fact that the monsters eat at Harryhausen's in Monsters, Inc, and the fact that the warehouse in the original TMNT movie is on East Lairdman Island.

Personally, I'd like to foil nefarious world-conquering plots and offbeat schemes, as well as getting the chance to occasional smack somebody as hard as I can. What's the point of having a neato superpower if I can't use it, eh?

 

[Wolv0rine]

I think if you go into it intending for the staff of potently-recognizable characters to be brushed-aside easter eggs, then you're going to be disappointed and caught with your trousers down (unless, knowing your group better than I do, obviously, you know they'll react differently than I would).
There's no way I wouldn't pay attention to those NPCs, never underestimate the charm and potential of good NPCs, man. And the ability for players to become attatched to them enough to pull them (forcibly sometimes, if need be) from the background.
That said, yeah I'd be good with their presence as a player, if the DM played them halfway decently.

I like both the Charlie and KITT voice ideas. Maybe the HAL starts with one or the other, gts trashed by villains at some point, and when it's rebuilt/fixed it comes back with the other voice/personality? Let you make use of both ideas.

 

[Gentlegamer]

You need a team of minor tech-based heroes called the A-Team . . .

 

[AFGNCAAP]

First, I'd have to agree with a previous post, and say that a magical thing would problably have a long, drawn-out, formalistic name instead of an acronym. The acronym could be a "shortening" of its formal name, though (whether it's the first 3 letters of a lengthy name, the first letter from it's 3 names, etc.). With that being said...

I think other background NPCs could be drawn from other sources (whether contemporary to the time, or "earlier" versions of more recent characters). Maybe the a few of the cast of St. Elsewhere or Hill Street Blues could pop up in the background somehow, or maybe a younger Det. Munch (ala Homicide/L&O: SVU) could be encountered (perhaps investigating a link to Baltimore somehow...).

I also think that this setting (with the heroes losing Secret Wars) is going to make things a bit rougher for the heroes still there. The villains would get a dose of wish fulfillment (IF they came back & the heroes didn't), not to mention how the Beyonder may act if he visits Earth ala Secret Wars II (and decides to be villainous himself).

The heroes not returning could kick off some events earlier than they should've occured. The Thunderbolts could appear in response to the heroes' absence. Tony (since Rhodey went in his place as Iron Man) could assemble a new group of Avengers; John Walker may be the new Capt. America for good; Ben Reilly may show up and take Peter's place. Of course, the PCs may be able to step up & take the place of the heroes who never came back, but it could be quite a tall order.