RECURRING ORGANIZATIONS - EASY ADDS FOR GAMEMASTERS

 

Comic book universes are full of organizations who have massive resources to bring to bear against the heroes and their enemies. Often, these are meant to be recurring, high stakes enemies that are constantly harrassing the protagonists at every turn. Other times they are a looming threat, popping up just when it's most inconvenient.

We see the latter with the Sentinels in the earlier days of the X-Men comics where they seemed ot pop up all the time. Other groups that tend to do this in more recent years are groups like SHIELD and HYDRA who frequently show up as part of long-running stories. Other organizations, such as The Hand or AIM seem to pop up less frequently, showing up when the twisting coils of the protagonists's lives bring them back into conflict, then dispappearing back into the shadows again when the latest plot twist is finished. 

Many times these enemies float from title to title, often connecting along themes such as martials arts, spy thriller, or simply mutant team members but no organization need be limited to their original or intended adversary. The Hand certainly came into conflict with the X-Men through both Wolverine and Psylocke and SHIELD shows up to deal with any superpowered threat. Organizations such as AIM or HYDRA might seek to capture a member of a team for their uses and Sentinels are notoriously dumb and innefective, often confusing non-mutants for mutants or even getting hijacked by other villains for their own uses. 

The use of recurring organizatons in games is a crucial tool for a GM. Not only do they make convenient, easily insertable opponents for your players but they also help you, the GM, establish a sense of place and world. Ruccuring enemies are like landmarks in a game, they remind players where their character are. They can guide players toward particular conclusions or they can be used to subvert the players' expectations. The Hand may be trying to kill the players at one time but later show up to save them, thus creating a strange dichotomy that keeps the players guessing. Even seemingly beneficent organizations such as SHIELD can suddenly be turned against a heroic team, either over some misunderstanding or even as fallout for the heroes' actions.  

It is important to distinguish these recurring enemies from the named teams and villains that heroes tend to encounter. Almost every team has a roster of named villains that the clash with in a seemingly endless loop of conflict. Organizations are great because they do not require you to come up with complex reasons for them to clash with the heroes. Simple goals and motivations are the trademark of these organizations. That is not to say that they don't even have deeper goals and they most certainly do, but you can throw a mob of ninjas or hi-tech agents at the heroes and give it the most basic reasoning andh ave it fly. Your players will enjoy a chance to throw agents around and break expensive equipment without having to pull too much strategy out of their hats to defeat a more complicated enemy.

Another thing to rememeber about organizations is that encounters with them are easily scaleable. you can have a hand full of agents show up, a single ninja, or a strike team with battlesuits, flying cars or mega-lasers. You can even scale on the fly if the fight goes too easily. That initial tactical team sent by SHIELD may quickly be handled and call in backup. The single ninja, leading the team on a merry chase may have only been the lure to get the heroes into an ambush situation. Organization encounters also scale into encounters with named enemies. Sure you may have started fighting AIM agents but next thing you know the Super-Adaptoid shows up and amps up the fight. We've all see nthe classic ninja fight where a mob of ninjas it thrown all over the place, only to have the music change, a door open, and out steps  much more impressive martial arts opponent, this time with special powers or techniques. 

When it comes down to using organizations as enemies, you should never feel hesitent to do so. Like anything else you do in your games just make sure it makes sense but also remember that what makes sense in comic book universes is a very broad and often ill-defined, so be cool with yourself. I find that, in the beginning, it is best to stick to a single organization as their primary organization to encounter. This will allow you to establish the teams connection to the organization as well as their rivalry. It's still okay to throw in other groups but do so sparingly until the first organization seems like it may be losing effect. But, once you get a few into rotation, you can mix and match as you like. Just remember. Anything can happen in comic books.

What are some organizations you have used in your games?

How have your players responded to recurring appearance by organizations?

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENTAL #1 - MORE STICK

In last Friday's post, I posted my old character Stick. In that post, I talked about how she went through a few stages in her career, including a brief bit as a mind-controlled villain. Below are images of the various costumes she used at those times. They are posted in order. All these pictures were created using outlines taken from published works with details drawn over. 

STICK AS NIGHTENGALE, COSTUMED SIDEKICK TO NOSFERATA 

    STICK AS A MIND CONTROLLED ASSASSIN

STICK AS BLACK DRAGON, MYSTIC WARRIOR

FROM THE FOLDER FRIDAY - STICK (NO NOT THAT ONE)

 

Jokingly refered to in our games as the "West Coast Stick" this character was made for a street-level crime-fighting campaign that took place in Los Angeles. As the power level of that campaign was low, she has no powersand just a lot of fighting abilities. As you can also see, some ofthe language in the character write-up is perhaps a bit dated but it reflects the time when I wrote up the character and my limited experience and knowledge at the time. Stick went on from this humble beginning to become a costumed sidekick ala Robin and then to becoming her own solo costumed street hero and even ended up being a mind controlled villain at one point. 

STICK

Tracy Yin, human hero

F    RM (30)

A    IN (40)

S    TY (6)
E    RM (30)

R    TY (6)

I      RM (30)

P    EX (20)

Health: 106

Karma: 56

Resources: TY (6)

Popularity:  -5

Known Powers: 

Stick has no special powers. 

Weapons: Stick fights with her staff mostly and is skilled enough that it inflicts Good (GD) blunt damage. she also carries a number of knives, for both melee and throwing, that inflict Typical (6) edged damage. 

Talents: Stick is skilled in the use of all martial arts weapons, thrown weapons, blunt weapons, sharp weapons, and thrown objects. She specializes in fighting with a staff. She knows Martial Arts A, B, C, D, acrobatics, tumbling, crime, trance, artist (painting), language (Chinese). 

Contacts: Bronze Dragons (street gang), Dragon, LAPD.

Background:

Born Tracy Yin, the hero known on the streets as Stick lived a very typical life for a girl of her age. Born to immigrant parents, she was raised on stories of the American dream and parents that sought yo raise their daughter with a combination of traditional Chinese values and American ideals. Much to her family's dismay, she found kinship among the Bronze Dragons, a local street gang in LA's Chinatown. 

The gang was not a criminal gang, but more so a guardian gang, protecting locals from predation by other gangs, criminal organizations, racist neighbors and the police. She spent most of her time with them training and mastering several martials arts and weapons, all under the tutelage of an aging master known simply as Dragon. Dragon had been a costumed crimefighter in China when he was younger, bringing his ideals and system of honor to Chinatown when heremigrated to the United States. 

Stick eventually became the sidekick to a costumed hero named Nosferata, a dark avenger who stalked the city streets at night. This is when she picked up the itendity as Nightengale, a homage to her heritage but distinct from her uncostumed street identity. As Nightengale, she benefitted from an arsenal of high-tech equipment provided by Nosferata including a staff made of advanced materials and capable of several tricks. 

As her career progressed, she eventually found herself in Asia, tracking down a killer who had murdered Dragon and decimated the Bronze Dragons. Her missions led her to Madripoor where she found the killer had been sent by an enigmatic woman knowned as Madame Shimaze. It is here where Tracy fell to the villainess, ending up her mind controlled minion. during this time, she served as a hired assassin.

Tracy was later freed from Madame Shimaze's control by the spirit of Dragon who came to her, inhabitting her body and bestowing mystical  powers on young Tracy. Tracy was able to defeat the evil Madame. After that she returned to the United States, having avenged her master and, her new powers at hand, took up a career as a costumed crimefighter, this time going by the name of Black Dragon. 

Notes: I could provide additional profiles for her later incarnations but some notes here should allow those interested in using her to do so. As Nightengale, she had equipment very similar to the Tim Drake Robin from DC Comics. Her staff could taze enemies, create bright flashes to blind, had restractable hooks that could also be fired as a grappling line. She also carried numerous throwing knives, secdonary blades as well as flasckbangs, smoke bombs, gas pellets, and a full climbing kit. 

As the Black Dragon, she possessed chi-based powers allowing her to energize her body and weapons for greater striking ability as well as stealth powers that shrouded her in darkness. She was also resistent to damage and could used her chi-based powers to heal herself.

MULTIPLE THINGS CAN BE TRUE - HOW INCONSISTENCY CAN WORK

 

The true disposition of Madrox was left in a weird state of limbo for years with multiple possible version of the "real" him in play.

When playing TTRPGs it can be easy to believe that everything needs to make perfect sense - all nicely wrapped up in logical bows and perfect story writing. This is, of course, the benefit of a type of game that is often written with very specific encounters, pacing, events and characters in mind. Comics, are not always written this way and so you can relax a bit and even capitalize on this when you run your games.

Comic books are famous for inprecise, often contradictory canon which is sometimes intentional, sometimes the product of layers of writing and sometimes just plain lazy. While most tabletop campaigns will not run for the length of time it requires for these sort of wrinkles in continuity to develop organically, they may still come up in games and can, in many cases, be used to your advantage. More importantly, it needn't be a point of worry when your players catch you in an unintended mixup. No, instead you can embrace the fact that it is very possible for multiple things to be true at the same time in a comic book.

The origin of the Maximoff twins has been retold so many times that it has required compiling into a single origin several times. 

There are plenty of characters in comic books who have existed in states of uncertainty. Often these inconsistencies are fixed with later retcons or story development but they can remain unspecified for decades. Scarlet Witch and Qiicksilver have had their origins written and rewritten time and again through various layers of unreliable narration and even outright deceit. Captain America was at one time dead but active and then only later revealed to have been frozen while an imposter was carrying out his duties. Jean Grey and the various fallout of the Phoenix Saga have left that character in an indeterminate state of reality from the 80's all the way to the present. 

As a player and a GM, acceptance of these inconsistencies can actually enhance the experience of being in a comic book universe. Going back to my earlier psots about creating questions, planting seeds and retcons, this is where so many of those fun comic book elements are often born. Being okay with them means you are leaving yourself open to the possibilities and creating a much easier time of it for your GM to develope comic book style stories. Who cares if you are sure that the villain in that last scenario should have been half a world away when you encountered him? it's just another mystery to unravel. 

So, what sorts of inconsistencies have you encountered in your games?

What are some of your favorite comic book inconsistencies? 

SEEDING - CREATING CHARACTERS AND SCENARIOS THAT KEEP GIVING

 

In previous posts I have spoken about making things up, asking questions and just generally being fearless and absolutely open when it comes to creating characters, stories and laying out plots. As you develop your universe, more and more threads will present themselves into which you can weave more characters and stories. There are, however, ways in which you can even set these up intentionally and in addition to asking questions without answers, you can also create options and opening, seeding future scenarios. 

One of the things comics do best is to build off of previously established lore and events. Whether or not these things are planned or developed after to the fact (sometimes very much so), the key is that they all take some small bit of established lore and turn it into the next big thing. In many ways this is similar to asking questions but instead you are laying out potential plot threads, even if they might not be fully defined. 

Krakoa spawned several twists and later plot developments layered on by future creators

As you create characters and write your scenarios consider where the characters and events of the scenario might lead. This can almost me thought of front-loading questions. Think of any little angle that could be used from a character or situation. Does your villain have a power or ability that lends itself well to a new story atfer their defeat? Does your current scenario involve a lot of people? How might other victims of the scenario's events change or react to the scenario? 

Take Jean Grey, for example (there is a reason I used her for the pic on this post). Jean is a character who has been through a ton of changes and developments throughout her long and storied career as an X-Man. Now, we have the benefit of looking back on that all and thinking "what a wonderfully robust saga" but so much of that is he result of subsequent layering of new ideas and the development of questions either asked up front of left unanswered until a creatore decided to answer them. Sometimes, those creators invented elements whole cloth and restroactively added them intothe canon (retconning). I am pretty sure, that when Jean Grey was originally created, the Phoenix Saga, Madeline Pryor, Inferno or any of the other plotlines that developed were nowhere in anyone's mind. But, we can take this and use it to guide us.

The origins of Havic and Cyclops both spawned several future plotlines involving a third brother, their parents and even Mr. Sinister

As a player, when you create a character, ask yourself what things might develop from your character's powers and background or, even better, write things into those backgrounds that are undeveloped. The questions will help you an your GM later. A mysterious benefactor or a gap in a character's memories is fertile ground for a GM as are unknown parentages. Sometimes even your entire origin can be a mystery or series of questions. When your character gets into an accident, survives, and developes powers you can leave it at that and fill in the blanks later. It's also entirely okay to feed development ideas to your GM. Players who create seeds for their characters will be rewarded with stories that tie into their characters specifically.

In a recent scenario I wrote for my X-Men West campaign, I had a mutant out of control and causing massive wildfires in California (I know, topical). After writing that scenario, I got to thinking of another scenario that develops in the aftermath of that event - psionic manifestation of hate and anger that was born of the deaths and trauma of the fires all centered around a psionic NPC who was among the victims. I don't have the details worked out, but I took a moment to jot down the basics of that scenario idea so that, when my players get to that scenario, I have this noted down, to develop either right after or maybe down the road whe neverything seems to have settled. 

The Sentinels have made their way into countless books beyond the main X-verse titles.

Sometimes planting these seeds can be as simple as choosing to tap into existing elements of the setting that have already been proven as sources for twists and turns. For example, you might choose to have the Sentinels play a part in a scenario, tying the scenario into the greater Sentinel metaplot or perhaps, like I did, you have some Marvel Universe tech bro decide to use Sentinel tech in his new robot and watch as things go wrong. Just make a note when you insert these elements, preserving any ideas that come to mind as you write up the scenario. 

In my experience, seed ideas come naturally as I am creating. They are a natural byproduct of the creative process and, like many byproducts, are valuable in their own right. Learn to become aware of these seeds as they trickle out of your brain and practice keeping them noted down, either in the margins of your scenario or in some dedicated place where you put all your ideas. This will serve you well as your campaign progresses. This goes for players seeding for their own characters, as well and they would be well-served to make notes of any ideas they have for things that could happen to their character as they make them, pasing them to the GM. 

So, next time you make a character or write a scenario, keep these tips in mind and take notes. Don't lose those precious seeds. You can even go back through existing characters and already played or written scenarios and mine them for seeds. 

Have you made any characters with built-in seeds?

Have you ever written seeds into your scenarios? 

FROM THE FOLDER FRIDAY - TANKER

The character of Tanker was inspired by a couple of existing Marvel characters - Cypher and Madison Jeffries. I combined those two character into my own character. the concept for this character was a young mutant, with a mastery of machinery, who idolized armored heroes like Iron Man. He was a member of a short-lived team, we cme up with, called the Regulators where he was the "tech guy". The illustration shows his first sut, put together with scavenged parts. He later got more refined suits as his available tech increased. I'm pretty sure the inspiration for this particular look was the classic Mandroids of Marvel fame. 

TANKER

Jamie Logam, mutant 

F    GD (10)

A    GD (10) / RM (30)

S    GD (10) / IN (40)
E    RM (30) / IN (40)

R    AM (50)
I      EX (20)

P    EX (20)

Health: 30/120
Karma: 90

Resources: GD (10)
Popularity: 20

Known Powers:

Intuitive Invention: Jamie is a mutant with Amazing (50) ability to comprehend and operate any device he comes in contact with. This ability also allows him to easily construct nearly any device or piece of equipment out of available parts. Under normaly circumstances, with common household and/or industrial  technology, he can make devices with Incredible (40) ability. If he has access to more sophisticated and hi-tech base components these devices can be constructed up to Monstrous (75) ability. It still takes him time to construct the equipment (see construction), though he can do it at 1/2 the normal time, or one 1/4 the time with proper facilities.

Psychometry: A more essoteric aspect of Jamie's machine affinity is the ability to communicate with them on a very basic, psychic level, readiong the psionic echoes and residue left behind on all inanimate objects throug htheir contact with living, thinking beings. This ability functions with Amazing (50) ability. This power is innate and works through touch. Jamie must concentrate or block skin contact to block out these psychic eminations. 

Telekinesis: Along with his other psionic abilities, Jamie has Amazing (50) ability to manipulate physical objects with his mind. 

Machine Link: Jamie is able to form permanent bonds with machines he has contact with, allowing him to operate them through a combination of his mental link and telekinesis. He also maintains a psychometric link with machinesh e is linked to, able to use them as spies and alarms or receive data and information from computer systems in real time. He does this over Incredible (40) distance. He has many weapons, tools, pieces of equipment and his signature battlesuits linked in such a way. If he teleports and object with contents, those contents are teleported along with it and arrive in perfect condition, allowing him to transport teammates, supplies, prisoners and rescued civilians.

Telemachination: Jamie can instantly teleport any device he is linked to him at Unearthly (100) range. Teleported equipment appears on his person or in an areas near him ready for use. Worn items appear on him and operational. 

Arsenal: Rather than list all his available equipment (that would be another post in itself), Jamie's early arsenal consisted of a number of weapons, armor, movement systems, sensors, tools and equipment of Incredible (40) ranks ability. Later in his career, after some adventures and contacts were made, he developed some truly powerful systems in the Monstrous (75) power rank. At one point, he was even issued a nuclear bomb by the U.S. government that was incorporated into a massive crisis suit. 

Psionic Screening Tech: Due to his psionic abilities operating constantly and needing concentration to shut off, Jamie has developed technologies that allow him to place a technological barrier between him and the psychic eminations of objects. This technology is built into his battlesuits and gives him Good (10) protection from mental attacks and manipulation. He can dim these screens at will, allowing him to access his abilities as needed. He does this through various touch pads on his armored hands and feet when in battlesuit. 

Weakness: Jamie psychometry is always active as if it were another sense. He must actively keep it from overhwleming him. Under normal, every day circumstances, this is no great feat for him. However, under emotional duress or extreme stress and fatique he must make a Psyche FEAT roll to maintain is control. If he fails, he will become overwhelmed by the food of psychometric information, stunning him, stunning him (see Stun effects on the Univeral Table).

Talents: Electronics, Computers, Physics, Engineering, Robotics, Music

Contacts: United States Government, MIT, FBI, Tony Stark.

Background: 

Born to a detroit family, Jamie was gifted at an early age. Born with his mutant powers active, he was already using them in limited fashion before he could walk. His parents recognized his gifts, though they thought they were manifestation of a high IQ and fast learning. As he grew, he excelled in technical and scientific pursuits but often seemed to have difficulty in his day to day expeiences. Because of this, he was sent to special schools that focused on his aptitudes.

By the time he was of high school age, Jamie had already completed all the requirements to graduate high school and moved on to college, selecting MIT and entering into one of their premier engineering and robotics courses alongside computer sciences. As these first two came os easily to him, he also picked up a science cource, focusing on both applied and theoretical physics. Jamie soon became a start student at MIT but the ease by which he picked up his subjects did cast some suspicion and he often had to defend himself against allegations of cheating. Being able to always prove his knowledge an ability, none of these charges ever stood though it remained undeniable that Jamie had a strange affinity for machines, often able to diagnose the undiagnosable. 

One of the earliest personalities to take notice of his abilities was Tony Stark, himself. Stark frequently visited the school, hoping to poach the best and brightest for himself and his company. Observing Jamie over about a weeks time both in his studies and his personal time, Stark was able to correctly deduce that the boy's abilities went far beyond simple aptitude, his career as a costumed hero affording him the insight to know superpowers when he saw them. Stark would mentor Jamie for some time until Jamie broke onto the scene as a costumed hero.

While Jamie was mentoring with Stark, he quickly gained an understanding of Tony's tech, using his powers, and found himself able to replicate it through the available components he could scrounge up at the school. He started with simple devices, testing his ability and eventually graduating to weapons systems and then to a fully functional, if not aesthetically pleasing armored suit. With this new equipment, he started sneaking out and engaging in costumed crime-fighting to test it and for the thrill of it. 

During his time at MIT, Jamie spent much of his personal time at music clubs where he often played in bands as a pick-up guitarist. In several of these instances, he encountered various locals and made friends in the city of Boston. Some of the most noteable encounters were with the Hellions on several occasions when they visited Boston at the same time as Jamie. This also brought him into contact with Emma Frost who, detecting his psionic abilities did try to recruit him but Jamie was leerie of the polished, posh woman and steared clear. This didn't keep Frost from wanting to add such a useful mutant to her roster and she would continue to make numerous attempts at changing his mind. 

Jamie's real debut, as a customed hero came when MIT found itself under attack by several costumed criminals seeking to steal valuable technology. Unwilling to let them destroy his school and being on site, Jamie jumped into action and donned his battlesuit, taking to the air to battle the attackers. His sudden andn early instant appearance shook the attacking villains and he was able to exploit the surprise to deal some heavy blows, sending them retreating.The school sustained minimal damage due to Jamie's intervention but his suit and other tech violated the school's code and rules and he was expelled from the school. 

After this, Jamie went home to California where he moved back in with his parents. He briefly considered taking Emma Frost up on her offer before moving back, but thought better of it. It was at this time that Jamie found himself under investigation by the FBI for his weapons design and possible distribution. Unknown to Jamie this wasa strong-arm tactic meant to push him to being amenable to working for the government. Jamie eventually took the offer and was recruited into a new government-sanctioned, mutant superhero team called The Regulators. 

CAMPAIGN IDEAS - MARVEL'S 50-STATE INITIATIVE

THE SETUP MADE FOR TTTPRGS

Whether you are a fan of the Civil War storyline and its aftermath, the concept of the 50-State Initiative is one that is ripe for use in tabletop games. Much like the West Coast Avengers and the Marvel Superheroes RPG book, "Avengers Coast to Coast" provided an outline and even in-game resources for creating their own Avengers teams, the 50-State Initiative creates and instant framework in which players can assemble a team. While gamers don't need these frameworks to create their own uniwque teams, they do make it remarkably straightforward - pick a state and make a team. 

Yes, Marvel  has already assigned a number of existing heroes and teams or created new ones for some of the 50 states but as any tabletop game is going to effectively become its own alternate timeline, you have total freedom to insert your own teams in their place or even come up wth reasons there might be a second team in the area. IT IS YOUR GAME. If you are not playing in the U.S. you could even assume that other countries take a similar initiative assembling and assigning teams in whatever state equivelants they have. This sort of canned team background gets you in and gets you playing without a lot of fiddly "why are we together" worries. Your heroes are together because it's their job. 

In the comics, the initiative was never fully realized and dispanded before full deployment but your game could always say otherwise. You might also come up with a way to avoid the questionable ethics (Superhuman Registration Act) that formed the initiative.

Have you played this sort of campaign before? If so, what state did you play and who was in your lineup?

CREATE QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS - SIMPLE TIPS FOR CREATING ROBUST CAMPAIGN

 

Reading comics over a long span of time can give the impression of vast, spanning tales but the simple fact is that very few of the sagas we know are the result of thought-out, well-planned stortelling. Many are, in fact, the result of questions let unanswered only to be answered at a later time in the characters' timelines. 

Questions, in this context, are any sort of unanswered, unaddressed plotpoint that can be/is later expanded upon, adding to the story. Deaths, disappearances, and ambiguous fates are some of the mainstays of comics. So too are mysterious relations, vague or unknown pasts. Any unanswered question or unfinished business is fuel for the campaign. 

A willingness to create questions and accept their answers is one of the stongest tools for players and GMs to use when playing a superhero campaign. A willingness to explore the answers to questions will, over time create the same sorts of wild stories that bring comics fans back time and again.

DON'T ASK

A simple tip for creating robust campaign. 

While everything said above is still good advice another piece of advice I have almost seems contrary to what I have already said. Acceptance is a useful trait for players of superhero games (and other games) to develop. While creating questions is a time honored tool for telling comics stories it is just as important to trust the process and accept the creative, obscure, and sometimes seemingly obtuse answers that develop for those same questions. 

This, of course, requires faith in your GM and a "trust the process" sort of mentality but it also requires your GM to come up with interesting and imaginative answers to questions that are created during play. Get comfortable letting things play out. Villain you though was dead is back? Great! Now you get to figure out how this happened. Is it truly him? A clone? A successor? An unknown sibling or child? Is it all a clever ruse perpetrated by another, as yet, uknown villain? Maybe it's a manifestation of the hero's own guilt coming back to haunt them? Because comic books themselves are so wild with their questions and answers, you should feel no hesitation in doing so in your own games. When your GM throws a curve at you, just swing and not worry about whether or not you have any chance of hitting the ball.

CREATING QUESTIONS 

When creating questions I find the simplest way is to take brief notes about how encounters play out. Make specific notes about any interesting things that occur during fights or other interactions like collatoral damage, the types of attacks that inflict certain results. These things will give context for potential questions to ask yourself (as a GM) after the game. 

After the game, go through your notes and for each noteable event during the encounter make a few "questions" for each item on your list. 

Some types of questions you might ask are listed below - 

Did a building get damaged or destroyed? If so did anyone survive? 

Does anyone hold a grudge? 

What was in the building and could it have created an origin accident that created a new villain or even hero? 

How was the vilain defeated in an encounter? 

Did they flee? 

Were they killed in an ambiguous manner? 

Were the heroes able to verify their defeat? 

Were they sent somewhere else? 

Who might take issue with the villain's defeat? 

Were any of the heroes' loved ones or important NPCs in the area when a battle occurred? 

How were they affected? 

Is there anyone who might now see the heroes in a new light? 

Is there any interesting fallout from the use of the heroes' or enemies' powers? 

The questions are nearly limitless and a GM should feel free to get as crazy and creative with them as possible. It is also perfectly acceptable to include the players in this. Ask your players if they can think of any cool ideas that might spawn from a session and write them down. The players will never known if or when you will use them but like any comic book reader, they will be asking those questions with every subsequent session.

What are some instances in which you creating questions and how did you play them out later?

FROM THE FOLDER FRIDAY - HARRIER

Another character originally conceived of as a Champions character, I never finished her write-up which is why you see and incomplete stat block for her. This is demonstrated most by the fact that her powers inclure slashing claws on her wrists but there are no attacks in her powers section.

The drawing is a freehand drawing, done by me, likely in the 90s sometime and clearly during the time when I was learning and experimenting with severe reflective textures. I recall drawing her in a way that heavily stylized, perhaps inspired by the comics of the time, thus her very unnrealistic anatomy, despite being a human being. Her face is not intended to look natural as her costume includes a facemask, done in a sort of artistic representation of femininity. This was to protect her face as she was a model and actress.

HARRIER

Eveline Brightbird, hi-tech human

F    EX (20)

A    EX (20)

S    GD (10)

E    EX (20)

R    GD (20)

I     EX (20)

P    RM (30)

Health: 70

Karma: 70

Resources: RM (30)

Popularity: 25

Known Powers: 

Body Armor: Harrier wears a protective costume that provides her with Excellent (20) protection from physical and energy attacks.

Gliding: Retractable winglets on her suit allow her to glide with Excellent (20) speed. 

Talons: Harrier's costume includes a pair of retractable steel talons, one on each hand. These talons are made of Incredible (40) Material Strength steel and inflict Excellent (20) edged damage.

Infrared Vision: Good ability to see in darkness.

Protected Senses: Lenses in her face mask provide her with Remarkable (30) protection of flashes, bright light, and other visions-effecting attacks. 

Stealth Camouflage: The material of her costume is normally a reflective black with a transparent section that shows her fair skin as her bir icon. On command, the suit can shift to a solid, flat black texture that aid stealth by absorbing light. While in this configuration, she has a +2CS when attempting to sneak.

Talents: Criminology, Finance, Martial Arts A, B, and C, Security, Drive, French, German, Spanish, Chinese. 

Contacts: Brightbird Modelling, Interpol, FBI, Power Man, Iron Fist

Background: 

Eveline was born to an upstate New York family of means, The Brightbird Family. Her father, howard, and her mother, Delores, cochaired the Brightbird Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping to provide opportunities to children of underpivileged families and at risk youth. Affored the best education and opportunities, Eveline inherrited her parents' altruistic nature and put in much of her time with the foundation, when not pursuing her own academic and extracurricular acitivies.

Eveline manged to finish high school already having started a career as a model and continued with this even when she went off to college where she acquired a degree finances and business. As she rose to fame and status as a highly sougth after and paid model and part-time actress, she never lost sight of the morals she had learned as a child, spending time helping others when she could. She also maintained a strong personal cotnrol over her finances and invested heavily.

When her parents were killed in an accident, she inherrited the family fortune, the business and the responsibilities. She also inherrited a suspicion that her parents' deaths were not an accident. This was only increased when several of the foundations partners attempted a hostile takeover. Eveline was able to halt the takeover but she grew increasingly suspicious of those whom her parents had once trusted as coworkers, partners and even friends.

While on a shoot in France, an attempt was made on Eveline's life, puttng her in the hospital. While she recovered, another attempt was made at a takeover of the Brightbird Foundation. This time, she barely defended the company and decided that she would need to take more drastic measures. She spent her time recovering, planning her strategy and thus the customed hero of Harrier was born.

Utilizing her family's and her own personal fortune, she had a high-tech costume designed and built for her. While the suit was in development and under construction, she doubled down on her own physical training as well as studying in various fields that would aid her in detective and investigative work. Som of this study took her to New York where she worked with street-level heroes, even fighting alongside Power Man and Iron Fist. Her wealth and status also afforded her opportunities to gain contacts in both the FBI and Interpol.

Once she was fully equipped and felt her skills were up to the task, she was able to investigate the partners of the foundation only to discover that they had secretly bee utilizing the resources of Brightwood to collect, traffic and exploit the very children the Foundation had been set up to help. She learned that the partners had been using the children they kidnapped in experiments to create superpowered beings, though their experiments had yet to produce anything of real consequence. 

Eveline, as Harrier located their facility, attacked it and managed to bring stop the operation though she could not bring them to proper justice as doing so would ruin the foundation. Instead, she used her contacts with Interpol and the FBI to have the partners taken into custody and quietly put away. Much to Eveline's dismay, the children who had been subjected to the experiments, those that had survived at least, were not allowed to return to any families they still had and were, instead, taken into government custody and care.

This initial sortie as Harrier left Eveline with mixed feelings. While she had succeeded in the stopping the partners and saving Brightbird Foundation, she was left with an unsettling feeling over the final status of the abducted children. From then on, she committed herself to a stronger sense of justice and dedication to making wgong-doers pay, herself. She would not rely on the clumsy wheels of justice to do the right thing. Future operations would see her helping victims through Brightbird which over time expanded its aid to people in need of all ages and requirements. This afforded her a better way to make sure that those wronged by criminals would not be further victimized by the systems put in place to help them.

MAKE $&!# UP - WORLDBUILDING THE WAY THE COMICS GUYS DID

 

Alien invasions often come out of nowhere in comics, needing little to no up-front explanation.

Comic book universes do not com into existence full cloth. Rather they are the result of years, sometimes decade and pushing a century of consecutive layering of ideas and design. Much of this design work was done with a lot of intention and thought but, because comics have evolved overtime both in terms of art, writing, and even editorial attention, they have developed in a very piecemeal often haphazard and sometimes outright random manner. 

For every planned and tightly scripted story arc or metaplot there are countless clumsy insertions, random encounters and blatent market inclusions into any univers's long history. Doing so is often a necessity to fill the pages of books and to keep things moving. Deadlines must be met, delays happen, creative teams change and the ever-pressing need to try to develop new characters and concepts keeps comic under an endless push. What results are sometimes seemingly random or ill-thought events in comics, characters out of nowhere and a seemingly endless parade of new places, worlds, and realms. 

This is all great for superhero TTRPGs. 

Once again, the imperfect nature of superhero comics serves GMs and players of games set in those unvierses perfectly. Because the source material is built off these crazy developments, so to can your games. You can spend lots of time developing metaplots and story arcs, digging deep into the depths of characters and NPCs and their backstories but you are also perfectly fine not doing so. You can toil away trying to build you LEGO plot or, you can just make stuff up. More than likely nobody will know andif they do, it is unlikely that anyone who knows the genre will even care.

A follower said, in a comment...

"...The hero realm has always been crazy diverse where you could pivot a storyline from ultra serious and workd saving to beer and pretzel quirky and humorous. One day your ultra powerful and then suddenly your in a dimension where you feel 6 inches tall and barely qualify as a mouse. How you get in or out is 3 parts super simple and 2 parts complex. A day in the life of your character could involve talking to the guy at the deli counter, a character straight out of Mother Goose and an intergalactic superbeing all in the same hour and the reason could simply be Tuesday. Few other game realms offer as many possibilities without massive justification."

This comment really encapsulates what I am talking about here. Your tabletop game could easily be this random. Unless your characters are caught up in a serious, no wiggle room sort of plot, you could easily have the PCs go about their daily business, have a random encounter with a villain and then suddenly fnd themselves introduced to a previously unknown alien race or dimension invading the Earth for "reasons". 

The key is to remember that, as the GM for your superhero setting, you are filling the roll of most of the bullpen. You are artist (imagination-wise), writer, editor. your players also fill some of those roles but mostly just in the writing and aritstry behind their charcters. All you have to do is to have an idea, write the minimal stuff you need for it and then just wait to spring it on the players. If you are playing in an established universe and have lots of prewritten stuff it becomes even easier. 

Bat Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk were agents of chaos and seemed to exist in comics purely as a way to introduce whatever craziness writers wanted.

You needn't look far to find comic books using the most random reasons to throw characters together into situations. It is often the case that super battles spill over on top of the heroes as they are out and about. An entire organization may randomly and suddenly appear, hunting the PCs for some half-baked reasoning. Maybe somebody reported one of the heroes doing something illegal (especially good for heroes with low popularity). 

This is particularly perfect if game night comes around and you don't have time to prep anything amazing. Pull out a random character, alien race, deminsenional invader, or organization  and just throw them at the players. You can even do this with other heroes. Comic books are full of heroes who should have no real business fighting, actually fighting each other. It takes very little work to come up with a comics-appropriate reason to do so.

The last thing to remember is that, when it comes to the random occurences and encounters that you throw into your games, is that you don't hve to explain it and it doesn't have to make sense. You can give reasons and explanations but not doing so leaves things wide open for questions and answers (something I'll discuss another time) which can later be exploited or explained.

IN THE BEGINNING - SOME THOUGHTS ON PLAYING OUT ORIGINS

While I have never had an opportunity to play out the origins of a superhero character, the idea of doing so intrigues me. There are, of course , some things to consider before approaching this sort of campaign. You may have even heard of this or seen it in other games systems. White Wolf called it a “prelude” in their Vampire the Masquerade game and the concept is very much the same in superhero games.

1) HOW MANY CHARACTERS IN THE CAMPAIGN?

Playing out the origin of a character requires a certain amount of commitment to action and story that takes place before the main campaign begins and the number of players in the campaign should really be the first thing you consider as it will inform all other decisions when it comes to approaching the idea of playing out character origins. If you are playing a campaign with a single character, this shouldn't be too great a concern as you have only the one player's time to worry about. If, however, you have a few players, then you really should consider how much time to spend on playing out the characters' origins stories. Ideally, the amount of time spent on each character's origin role-play should be reduced for every character in the campaign. Obviously, if you have a particularly large group of players it may not be practical to play out their origins except in a few instances as I will discuss further along in this article.

2) DO THE PLAYERS PICK THEIR POWERS?

This step, while completely optional, is very important and has huge ramifications on the tone and action of your campaign. The decision as to whether or not the players begin play with fully created characters and simply go back to play out their origins or if they begin as blank slates is absolutely something they should agree to before you attempt to try this. If you go this route, your players are putting a lot of faith in you as their GM to create interesting and playable power sets for them to play with

3) HOW FAR BACK?

After you have figured out how many players you are going to have in your campaign and whether or not they begin playing knowing what powers they will have, you can now think about how far back you are going to go in their origins. If the players have created characters with full determined powers, then you are free to play out their origin stories with this information and use it to guide the play.

If, however, the players have agreed to start as blank slates, you will have to construct stories that position the characters to receive their powers or play out the manifestation of spontaneous powers. Such “retellings” may be more involved as you have to play through the getting/appearing of the powers and is best done only for smaller or solo games.

4) SHARED OR INDIVIDUAL ORIGINS

This last step is one that can very much simplify most of the above steps if not all of them. Not a complicated question, it is still no less important. A shared origin will mean that you are only really telling a single origin story to which each individual player will bring their character’s experience. Because of the efficiency of time created by a shared origin, the GM can add more detail and take the time to tell a more robust story, should they want to. Shred origins are particularly useful if you are playing a campaign where the players do not know what powers they will have because the GM can at least give some sort of general idea - all gods, alien heroes, space cops with power rings, etc./

Separate origins are where the GM really needs to ride a fine line in managing time. No origin story is identical and some may require more time and effort than others. A lab accident or granted powers might be a very simple story while a character who grew up with their powers might have a lot to unpack and much more story to tell. These examples are not universally true but the key is to recognize what each player needs for their character’s origin. Make sure that you talk to the players about who will need more time and should a player require a lot of time for their origin, consider setting aside a separate time to play that out.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It is important to remember that playing out a character's origins is neither normal, nor required for a good campaign. It is a completely optional step and can be done without. Just understand that playing out origins means that both the player and GM are both accepting the responsibility for the character.

How do you feel about playing out origins?

Have you had any experiences with doing so that you would like to share? 

FROM THE FOLDER FRIDAY - HIGHRISE

Those familiar with Champions nd the Hero System will recognize the stat block to the left on the image above. This is Highrise. He's a villain that I originally drew during our Marvel days but who was officially statted up for Champions as that is what the collective group was playing at the time I statted him up. Like many of my characters, he began with a random idea and a drawing, tucked away until I had an idea or need of a write-up. This is another character that was drawn in the 90s and who's costume and appearance reflects the style of the times. 

Presented here are MSHRPG stats for him, as that is what I will more likely be playing. If you would like to use him in your Champions games, you can go straight off the page. 


HIGHRISE

James Ryan, Altered human

F    GD (10)

A    PR (4)
S    UN (100)

E    MN (75)

R    TY (6)
I      TY (6)

P    GD (10)

Health: 189

Karma: 22

Resources: PR (4)
Popularity: -75

Known Powers:

Body Armor: Highrise's body has Incredible (40) resistence to physical and energy attacks.

Protected Senses - Vision: Hi eyes have Remarkable (30) protection from bright light. 

Regeneration: Due to the natura of his altered physiology, Highrise regenerates damage at Good (10) rate. 

Weaknesses: 

Huge Size: The science that created Highrise's powers and altered his body also made him incredibly tall. He stands 52ft tall, making him very easy to hit. All attacks against him made by enemies small than he is are at +2CS to Hit. 

Sonic Sensitivity: His large ear canals make him vulnerable to sonic attacks. All sonic attacks are +2CS in their intensity against him. 

Lack of Fine Dexterity: Highrises massive platform feet and chunky hands make it difficult for him to engage in any fine manipulation leaving him to clumsily graps and kick and stomp things. 

Talents: Martials Arts L

Contacts: Highrise has no contacts.

Background: 

Chronically down and out, James Ryan never ammounted to much of anything on his own. A high school dropout with no goals, motivation or dreams, he struggled through life, fired from one job after another due to his generally unpleasant personality. While this was likely a result of his upbringing and own lack of self worth, it nonethless gauranteed he'd be unable to hold any job. Even the most basic, menial positions seems to end with him mouthing off to the wrong person or getting into squabbles and even outright brawls with coworkers and, on more than one occasion, customers.

Over time, his innability to support himself through work led to him constantly falling on hard times, often homeless and engaging in minor petty crimes like shoplifting or mugging. Repeatedly spending time in jail and eventually sentenced to a short prison stay for his repeated crimes, he was approached by Dr. Noah Burstein, still working on his human enhancement project. The doctor offered Ryan an opportunity to improve himself, potentially even taking on a role as a hero. Ryan, always feeling he'd ammounted to nothing, jumped at the opportunity to make something of himself, even though he didn't fully grasp the decision he was making.

Dr. Burstein subjected James to a process to similar to that which he had used in his other experiments, this time using an experimental growth hormone derived from an unknown source. The experiment seemed to be an initial success with Ryan seeming to gain substantial muscle mass and physical hardening. With this clear success, Dr. Burstein had Ryan released from prison and remitted to his care for observation at Stark Labs. While Ryan wasn't overly keen on trading one prison for another, he couldn't argue that the accomodations would be better and so was transfered, without issue, to the Stark facility. 

As time went by, it became clear that the process, while seemingly successful, had not stabilized as it seemed it had. Ryan's body continued to gain mass, growing in size at a rate that wa measurable daily. Burstein determined that the cause must be the growth hormone that he had worked into the process. As the growth continued out of control, Ryan became more and more hostile, believing that the transformation had been intended and thinking the doctor had betrayed him. 

Lashing out, he broke free of the facility, rampaging across the campus as his still-growing body awkwardly moved and handled objects. Iron Man responded to the escape, but due to the damage to some building had to divert his attention to rescue rather than recovery. In the chaos, Ryan was able to slip away int othe surrounding area.

Over the course of the next few days, Ryan's body continued to grow and change, becoming the towering, stump-footed goliath he now is. Frustration and rage took over as his immense size made it impossible for him to carry on with any semblance of a real life. He took to hiding by day where he could, moving by night where his 50ft body could have some concealment. He tended to stick to rural ad outlying areas where he could steal livestock or ambush food deliveries to sustain himself. 

His current whereabouts are unknown.