At the end of the Contest, the heroes quite naturally had to go toe-to-toe with Evil Incarnate. In this case, a fiendish fellow called "Neron" (see "Underworld Unleashed" if you're a DC Comics fan). The group had gotten very powerful, and I felt the plot required nothing less than the ultimate challenge. I gave him all the powers I felt he should have at the power levels they should be. He was god-like, scary, and I've rarely put numbers that high on a character sheet before.
They beat him in three rounds of combat.
Well, when your heroes fight the Devil himself and kick his ass, that's a good time to do something drastic. It was pretty obvious we had to start over with new characters. In this case, I offered two possible suggestions: we start over in another city with a brand new team, or we take a cue from the "Batman Beyond" cartoon and jump into the future. They chose the future.
The current DC Heroes game follows the same team (Spectrum) in the same city (Los Angeles), but the year is 2050. Most the old heroes have died or retired, as have most the villains. Anyone that was exceptionally young is still around, but as an NPC, and we have players who are playing the children of previous characters as well.
Replacing David Styrm as "biggest pain in Spectrum's butt" is... Dawn Styrm. In the previous post, I mentioned what became of Eve and Dawn. Well, Dawn is a complete nutcase with her dad's smarts, her mom's upbringing, and magical powers trapped inside her. Oh, and when her mom died, Dawn strapped her into a special life-support chamber. Dawn is keeping EVAC barely alive because (1) as far as she's concerned, her mom is the only one that ever really cared about her and she refuses to let her go; and (2) the "special" part allows Dawn to continue to use E's healing and warp powers as if her mom was a machine instead of a (barely-) living person.
Such a precious child...
In any case, there's an entirely new team with a few players who weren't part of the game in the past (present?). Two of those people play City of Heroes and are using their "Beyond" characters. It's confusing to me because in my head, I'm having to reconcile two different time streams. Hopefully, it's not to anyone else (or wasn't until I mentioned it) who met Springheel'd Jack the other night and were introduced to him as a member of the hero group E fought against. 'Cause he is. Or will be. Except E will be a vegetable when they meet. Except they don't meet. Not really. 'Cause the meeting hasn't happened yet. And E will be mostly dead when it happens.
I'll shut up now. Back to our regularly-scheduled programming.
Showing posts with label dc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dc. Show all posts
Friday, May 25, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Contest - Meanwhile...
Now first of all, it didn't take long for our heroes to realize there was more going on here than just fighting the badguys. The smart guys in the group realized from the wording of their contract that they were only signing on to a small piece of what was going on. The heroes of a mystical bent also realized that Eve was a Child of Destiny, someone who will one day do something very, very important. So they weren't jumping into the situation blind or stupid. Just... well, they knew there were things going on they didn't know, and after a number of frustrating attempts to figure it all out, they decided they were okay with not knowing.
Which brings us to some the stuff they didn't find out.
Styrm is a very well-connected guy. He found about the contest very quickly and realized that, since his daughter was the object, he had a stake in its outcome. He therefore went to Evil and negotiated his own part in the unfolding drama. Our heroes never learned what the exact terms of his agreement were. They only saw him sign their part of the contract with an asterisk.
Styrm is an excellent negotiator and a very intelligent guy. He's also not above attempting to cheat when it suits his purpose. Just in case he and the heroes failed, he had Eve cloned, jokingly naming the genetic copy "Dawn". His thought was that, should Eve die, he could present Dawn as a perfect genetic match and claim that whoever had killed her had been mistaken: here was Eve. Would it have worked? Well, we'll never know.
When the contest was over, Styrm was relieved. Since his real daughter was all right, well... he didn't need two heirs, now did he? He ordered Dawn to be terminated, in his mind a very sensible course of action.
And this is where E's hidden motherly instincts kicked in. Now, she never expected to actually like being a mom. She thought she hated it. Thought it was one more dirty job she was being paid to do. But when Styrm ordered one of her babies killed, something snapped. She snatched up Dawn and quite literally disappeared. Styrm gave a token pursuit at first, but eventually decided neither E nor Dawn were worth the effort since he had the original. The two girls were raised seperately.
Styrm had a slow and small change of heart during the contest, however. He plea-bargained for some jail time and hefty fines and went back to being a run-of-the-mill (if shrewd) businessman, obeying the law a little more than the average company man since his daughter literally had angels watching her. Eve never wanted for anything and grew up to be a very proper young lady.
EVAC reverted to her criminal ways and raised Dawn underground (sometimes literally). They survived, fought, and did all right for themselves, never allowing themselves to rely on anyone if they could help it.
Which brings us to some the stuff they didn't find out.
Styrm is a very well-connected guy. He found about the contest very quickly and realized that, since his daughter was the object, he had a stake in its outcome. He therefore went to Evil and negotiated his own part in the unfolding drama. Our heroes never learned what the exact terms of his agreement were. They only saw him sign their part of the contract with an asterisk.
Styrm is an excellent negotiator and a very intelligent guy. He's also not above attempting to cheat when it suits his purpose. Just in case he and the heroes failed, he had Eve cloned, jokingly naming the genetic copy "Dawn". His thought was that, should Eve die, he could present Dawn as a perfect genetic match and claim that whoever had killed her had been mistaken: here was Eve. Would it have worked? Well, we'll never know.
When the contest was over, Styrm was relieved. Since his real daughter was all right, well... he didn't need two heirs, now did he? He ordered Dawn to be terminated, in his mind a very sensible course of action.
And this is where E's hidden motherly instincts kicked in. Now, she never expected to actually like being a mom. She thought she hated it. Thought it was one more dirty job she was being paid to do. But when Styrm ordered one of her babies killed, something snapped. She snatched up Dawn and quite literally disappeared. Styrm gave a token pursuit at first, but eventually decided neither E nor Dawn were worth the effort since he had the original. The two girls were raised seperately.
Styrm had a slow and small change of heart during the contest, however. He plea-bargained for some jail time and hefty fines and went back to being a run-of-the-mill (if shrewd) businessman, obeying the law a little more than the average company man since his daughter literally had angels watching her. Eve never wanted for anything and grew up to be a very proper young lady.
EVAC reverted to her criminal ways and raised Dawn underground (sometimes literally). They survived, fought, and did all right for themselves, never allowing themselves to rely on anyone if they could help it.
The Contest - Good vs. Evil
The original DC Heroes game ran a very long time. Players and heroes swapped around a bit, and toward the end, "Spectrum" (as the team called itself) rivaled the Justice League (or the X-Men for you Marvel fans). I started pitting them against greater and greater enemies and more and more complex problems (ask them how they feel about the Joker). Finally, I decided in true Justice League fashion, it was time to put the fate of the world in their hands.
The forces of Good approached our heroes with a request: be Good's champions in a contest against Evil. Now Spectrum counted in its membership a Native American shaman, a druid, and a devout Anglican knight. There was no doubt in my mind they'd accept, and to my glee, they did.
I'll spare you some of the details, but here's the basics: a child would be born soon after the rules were established. All our heroes had to do was make sure the child lived to be 5. Easy, right? Yeah, I know you're laughing again. Well, the terms were negotiated (and later, when Evil cheated [shock!], re-negotiated), and our heroes prepared themselves to guard this mystery child, whoever she turned out to be.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to our heroes, Styrm had a bucket of mortality tossed over him. He realized he wasn't going to live forever, and he had no heir and no prospects. Well, he realized he had a woman handy who was beautiful, smart, practically raised by him, and would therefore be perfect for the job of providing Styrm and heir. So far as EVAC was concerned, she was renting out her womb to a man she respected (vaguely), so she was okay with the idea. So Styrm and E had a child and named her "Eve".
And as soon as she was born, the mystical alarms went off, and the contest began in earnest. That's right, our heroes had to guard the daughter of one of their greatest foes... from an even greater foe. Demons came for her, angels guarded her, warlocks tried to sacrifice her, totemic animals helped rescue her, and in the end, as usually happens in comic books, Good triumphed over Evil, and the child lived.
And again, our heroes didn't realize that behind the scenes, things had only gotten more complicated instead of less.
The forces of Good approached our heroes with a request: be Good's champions in a contest against Evil. Now Spectrum counted in its membership a Native American shaman, a druid, and a devout Anglican knight. There was no doubt in my mind they'd accept, and to my glee, they did.
I'll spare you some of the details, but here's the basics: a child would be born soon after the rules were established. All our heroes had to do was make sure the child lived to be 5. Easy, right? Yeah, I know you're laughing again. Well, the terms were negotiated (and later, when Evil cheated [shock!], re-negotiated), and our heroes prepared themselves to guard this mystery child, whoever she turned out to be.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to our heroes, Styrm had a bucket of mortality tossed over him. He realized he wasn't going to live forever, and he had no heir and no prospects. Well, he realized he had a woman handy who was beautiful, smart, practically raised by him, and would therefore be perfect for the job of providing Styrm and heir. So far as EVAC was concerned, she was renting out her womb to a man she respected (vaguely), so she was okay with the idea. So Styrm and E had a child and named her "Eve".
And as soon as she was born, the mystical alarms went off, and the contest began in earnest. That's right, our heroes had to guard the daughter of one of their greatest foes... from an even greater foe. Demons came for her, angels guarded her, warlocks tried to sacrifice her, totemic animals helped rescue her, and in the end, as usually happens in comic books, Good triumphed over Evil, and the child lived.
And again, our heroes didn't realize that behind the scenes, things had only gotten more complicated instead of less.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Secret Origins - EVAC I
As a young girl, Jennifer Pace was always empathetic. She brought her parents animals with the slightest injuries and cried when playmates were hurt, even if the playmate wasn't crying. But empathy and sympathy are two different things.
As a teenager, Jennifer began inflicting pain. She hurt animals on purpose and caused injury to her classmates. After she was caught and punished, she would start again. Her therapist likened it to the phenomena of "cutting", as Jennifer seemed to feel the pain she inflicted. This pain seemed to overwhelm other emotions, and although some thought Jennifer appeared to enjoy it, that was an over-simplification. The girl felt like no one understood her, and her classmates often teased and picked on her.
When she was 16, the new school counselor gave her a proposition. She had a gift, he said, though a minor one. He could help her focus that gift. He would teach her how to use it and make her very, very rich. She liked the idea and agreed. She was introduced to David Styrm and so began the experiments.
She was infused with a kind of healing gift to supplement her own empathy. This remarkable regeneration surfaced in at least one odd way: she could fire pieces of her own body (typically fingernails) at high speed. The experiment to gift her with teleportation uncovered an oddity as well. Jennifer gained instantaneous access to a secret chamber buried beneath a step-pyramid in the Amazon. The reason for this has never been discovered, but Jennifer could instantaneously enter that chamber from anywhere and then exit it *to* anywhere, seemingly allowing her the ability to go wherever she wished.
Her uniform covers her from head to toe, leaving only her eyes and fingertips uncovered: an all-white body-suit with a simple red cross on the chest. She is a striking brunette with piercing green eyes. The other Night Captains consider her powers weak, so she often strives to prove just how vicious she can be, going over the top to injure and inflict pain... until the retreat is called and she has to drag her team-mates back to the Nights' hidden base.
As a teenager, Jennifer began inflicting pain. She hurt animals on purpose and caused injury to her classmates. After she was caught and punished, she would start again. Her therapist likened it to the phenomena of "cutting", as Jennifer seemed to feel the pain she inflicted. This pain seemed to overwhelm other emotions, and although some thought Jennifer appeared to enjoy it, that was an over-simplification. The girl felt like no one understood her, and her classmates often teased and picked on her.
When she was 16, the new school counselor gave her a proposition. She had a gift, he said, though a minor one. He could help her focus that gift. He would teach her how to use it and make her very, very rich. She liked the idea and agreed. She was introduced to David Styrm and so began the experiments.
She was infused with a kind of healing gift to supplement her own empathy. This remarkable regeneration surfaced in at least one odd way: she could fire pieces of her own body (typically fingernails) at high speed. The experiment to gift her with teleportation uncovered an oddity as well. Jennifer gained instantaneous access to a secret chamber buried beneath a step-pyramid in the Amazon. The reason for this has never been discovered, but Jennifer could instantaneously enter that chamber from anywhere and then exit it *to* anywhere, seemingly allowing her the ability to go wherever she wished.
Her uniform covers her from head to toe, leaving only her eyes and fingertips uncovered: an all-white body-suit with a simple red cross on the chest. She is a striking brunette with piercing green eyes. The other Night Captains consider her powers weak, so she often strives to prove just how vicious she can be, going over the top to injure and inflict pain... until the retreat is called and she has to drag her team-mates back to the Nights' hidden base.
Origin of the Character - DC Heroes
To fully understand the character and what he's been through, I feel like I should step all the way back. If you only want to know E's in-character backstory, then you might want to skip this post and any others with similar titles, but I feel like this is important to understanding the complexity of the backstory, so I include it for completeness.
As a few of you know, the character pre-dates City of Heroes. She (yes, "she", stay with me here) was first created for my DC Heroes RPG (Mayfair, 2nd ed.). A table-top, pen-and-paper game. The game was first started with a few friends back in 1992.
The first "big bad" I created for that game was David Styrm aka "The Night Lord". Cheesy name, I know, but trust me, it was appropriate cheese. :) He was a legitimate business man by day (CEO of Styrm Enterprises) with a secret identity as the leader of an underground criminal organization he called "The Nights". Any business problems he couldn't solve in the boardroom were taken care of in the back room. I based much of the character on David Xanatos ("Gargoyles"), Lex Luthor ("Superman"), and just a little bit of Doctor Octopus ("Spider-Man") and Frankenstein (the scientist, not the monster). As the Night Lord, Styrm appeared only on T.V. and such, wearing a black fedora, dark wrap-around goggles, and a mask across his lower face that featured a voice-changer. His grunts did all the face-to-face work with Styrm pulling the strings, supplying the funding, and creating the gadgets the Nights used to pull off their schemes. The hero group (back then called "The Shadow Squadron") quickly got the Nights' number and defeated Styrm's schemes handily. Okay. So Styrm needs powered flunkies. But Styrm's a creator and a manipulator, schemes within schemes, so what does he do?
Clones.
Well... sorta. See, the heroes were given quite a beating by Styrm's men, enough that they left blood and what have you. So Styrm collected DNA samples. But he needed flunkies *now*. So he looked for people that already had similar powers to the heroes, but at levels too low to make them heroes or villains in their own right. He sought out these people and made them an offer: join me, and I'll give you real powers.
Mutagenic radiation, gene-splicing, plastic surgery, genetic manipulation, and other torturous experiments produced copies of the heroes, each with similar enough powers to pass for the heroes, but each having some "freak" power that made them different. These became the "Night Captains", leaders of the rank-and-file Nights, answering directly to Styrm.
One of these, as you may have already guessed (or known) came to bear the code-name EVAC. She had Damage Transference (a "healing" power that takes damage from someone else and transfers it to the power-wielder), Warp (a form of teleportation where one opens a tunnel from one point to another and then steps through for instantaneous transportation), and Projectile Weapons (she could fling pieces of herself at targets to cause physical damage). At first blush, the heroes took her to be the weakest of the lot, but she became and has remained a huge thorn in their side.
As a few of you know, the character pre-dates City of Heroes. She (yes, "she", stay with me here) was first created for my DC Heroes RPG (Mayfair, 2nd ed.). A table-top, pen-and-paper game. The game was first started with a few friends back in 1992.
The first "big bad" I created for that game was David Styrm aka "The Night Lord". Cheesy name, I know, but trust me, it was appropriate cheese. :) He was a legitimate business man by day (CEO of Styrm Enterprises) with a secret identity as the leader of an underground criminal organization he called "The Nights". Any business problems he couldn't solve in the boardroom were taken care of in the back room. I based much of the character on David Xanatos ("Gargoyles"), Lex Luthor ("Superman"), and just a little bit of Doctor Octopus ("Spider-Man") and Frankenstein (the scientist, not the monster). As the Night Lord, Styrm appeared only on T.V. and such, wearing a black fedora, dark wrap-around goggles, and a mask across his lower face that featured a voice-changer. His grunts did all the face-to-face work with Styrm pulling the strings, supplying the funding, and creating the gadgets the Nights used to pull off their schemes. The hero group (back then called "The Shadow Squadron") quickly got the Nights' number and defeated Styrm's schemes handily. Okay. So Styrm needs powered flunkies. But Styrm's a creator and a manipulator, schemes within schemes, so what does he do?
Clones.
Well... sorta. See, the heroes were given quite a beating by Styrm's men, enough that they left blood and what have you. So Styrm collected DNA samples. But he needed flunkies *now*. So he looked for people that already had similar powers to the heroes, but at levels too low to make them heroes or villains in their own right. He sought out these people and made them an offer: join me, and I'll give you real powers.
Mutagenic radiation, gene-splicing, plastic surgery, genetic manipulation, and other torturous experiments produced copies of the heroes, each with similar enough powers to pass for the heroes, but each having some "freak" power that made them different. These became the "Night Captains", leaders of the rank-and-file Nights, answering directly to Styrm.
One of these, as you may have already guessed (or known) came to bear the code-name EVAC. She had Damage Transference (a "healing" power that takes damage from someone else and transfers it to the power-wielder), Warp (a form of teleportation where one opens a tunnel from one point to another and then steps through for instantaneous transportation), and Projectile Weapons (she could fling pieces of herself at targets to cause physical damage). At first blush, the heroes took her to be the weakest of the lot, but she became and has remained a huge thorn in their side.
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