Eldritch: NetherWar (Inactive)

Game Master tumbler

Perhaps he did? He just left it all in the Old Country, obviously.

BD, my games move so slowly that you can probably take some time off and not miss much. I hope that this adventure will wrap up soon, and we will move to the time jump to the present.

We will hold a place for you. Take your time.

Hmmmm. I will be taking advantage of this.

When I left the job of 14 hour days, I had candied dreams dancing in my head of mere 10 hour days, that would leave much time for frivolity. Alas, though I do have shorter and lighter days, the standard of 13 hour days does not leave as much time for posting as I had imagined.

(Also, the new Wasteland is coming out. Number three by the current counting, and I promised myself I'd finish 2 before I got it. If you're not familiar, it's what Fallout would still be if it had stuck with its turn-based roots.)

Anyway, yes, for the now the Hundred-Handed one will probably be going on a bender, as is his habit.

Well, we never would have had a Fallout out all if EA hadn't refused to give Interplay the rights to make Wasteland 2 back in the 1990s. :) The original Fallout is more or less the exact same plot as Wasteland 1 with the Vault 13 water chip quest in lieu of being Desert Rangers looking for people to help and the added retrofuture vibe. So now we have two post-apocalyptic video game worlds.

I never finished Wasteland 2--both playthroughs got bored/at a loss for how to proceed around the assault on the religious zealots' headquarters. The turn-based combat is well designed, if challenging. I found the rest of the game in terms of writing and quest/game design... lacking. I'm curious if Wasteland 3 will be much improved. If you get to playing it I'm curious to hear what you think.

Damn, Seven doesn't at least shout "DANGER CLOSE!" or something before she just fries one of her allies?

...Are we the baddies?

I was hoping to portray Seven as slightly over her head. She is a very powerful sorcerer (PL 12), but not so experienced or tactically developed as most of the League or especially as Adrian Eldritch (who is more experienced and PL 14). Fighting Una with a bunch of PL 8 heroes, she was up for any advantage she could gain.

Hypnotist has exited stage left as intended. Now, his son will enter the picture. I've made a few different builds for him, but I can't really settle on anything. I'd like to not lean in too heavily on the "dreams" schtick as 1, it's very limiting and 2, his son has little to tie him to his dad's traditions as his father was too preoccupied with heroics. Originally, Briareus was to play a big role in the son's training as a hero, but I think it would be more interesting if Sinclair, who Mac often refered to as "Young Mage", were to take the son under his wing.

As we may be potentially losing two big bruisers, I may want to pivot away from the more mobile "utility/support" character I originally intended and go for a heavy-hitter. Perhaps, in keeping with his generational curse, he will be fueled by nightmares in some way. Any ideas are greatly welcome.

The hard way to do this would be to say that he gains powers based on the fears/nightmares of his opponents. That would be very cool, but probably too much work for me.

I think he could work as a nightmare fueled hero. I like the idea that he is still connected to Dream, and possibly fueled by Nightmare energy (because he doesn't understand his powers as much as his father did). I thought Hypnotist was very effective and plot essential. Sorry if I let you down there. It would be easy to build a bruiser who is armored by fear, attacks with tentacles that have a resistance of Will instead of Toughness. You become a madness inducing monster. That might not be the way you want to go, but it would work for the darkness I imagine in the Team.

For everyone, certainly play what you want. The system is infinitely variable, and I'll respond to whatever you want to play. If everyone decided they wanted to play heroes in a sort of Matrix-esque cyberscape, that would be a challenge, but if you stay in the general magic oriented game I pitched, I can tweak it to match you. I'm not super happy with the focus of some of the adventures published in this series, so I'll be adapting them anyway.

Exactly how much time passes between adventures?

Thanks for a great conclusion of the first episode of Eldritch #1. Really appreciated the scene with Max and Seven.

First: That Silver Tiger guy, he is from a place called Shambala. You have probably heard of it, but what you may not know is that there is a hall there, a special place, it is sort of in the middle of things. And all of the Master Mages of Earth are there. If Adrian is dead, and his spirit isn't trapped somewhere, it will be there, and if not, you can at least talk to Merlin and the others. And you need to move to secure the Nerian Nexus. Take the Eye there. The League doesn't need it. Lock it away in the Nexus.

Do you want to cover the 1) Shambala and 2) Nerian Nexus during the time jump, hand wave?

Sinclair also has that book of Una's and would relentlessly investigate Eldritch's death. How do you want to cover that?

Should Sinclair carry a Dimensional Teleport to the Netherworld in his Magic Array? Or Ritual it?

I was thinking that Sinclair should go to university during the time jump, probably Ivy League or could be anywhere. Maybe use a long distance teleport in his Array to commute. In 7-8 years, he would be able to get his Bachelor's and Master's and could be working on his doctorate. Open to suggestions on which school to support plot and background connections.

Finally, I'll post in Gameplay today-ish but don't plan to jump time, just react to what they've experienced.

cheers

In my head, that was the end of the main book, but there would be some epilogues to wrap up some loose ends and give your characters closure on this chapter of your lives.

I need to play out to some degree you guys going to the Nerian Nexus, which is Adrian's mansion headquarters here in the city, though I can just narrate that if you don't want to play it out.

The same is true of Shambala. If you guys want to play out that encounter, we can. We don't need to play out the whole journey. Or I could just narrate it.

Dimensional Movement, either to the Netherworld or just generally, could be useful in the future adventures. If you are moving regularly between Seven's dimension and Earth's dimension, probably good to have it. One dimension is pretty cheap.

Exactly how much time passes between adventures?

Adventure 0 takes place in 2013

Adventure 1 takes place in a much better 2020 than I am having.

So 7 years.

OK. So, I'll put in a Dimensional Movement slot in the Array. That answers that last build question.

Considering how slow the pace of the game is (relative to other games. No judgement, because I'm still really enjoying the game), I would suggest and be good with narration to Nerian Nexus and Shambala. Even narration would probably take a few weeks until we get to our PL10 characters.

Also, there might be other narration that we want to do before the new characters to align, too. For example, Sinclair would want to explore Una's book and see how far he can get to Eldritch in the 7 year gap.

IMHO

cheers

The Hypnotist wrote:

Hypnotist has exited stage left as intended. Now, his son will enter the picture. I've made a few different builds for him, but I can't really settle on anything. I'd like to not lean in too heavily on the "dreams" schtick as 1, it's very limiting and 2, his son has little to tie him to his dad's traditions as his father was too preoccupied with heroics. Originally, Briareus was to play a big role in the son's training as a hero, but I think it would be more interesting if Sinclair, who Mac often refered to as "Young Mage", were to take the son under his wing.

As we may be potentially losing two big bruisers, I may want to pivot away from the more mobile "utility/support" character I originally intended and go for a heavy-hitter. Perhaps, in keeping with his generational curse, he will be fueled by nightmares in some way. Any ideas are greatly welcome.

The hard way to do this would be to say that he gains powers based on the fears/nightmares of his opponents. That would be very cool, but probably too much work for me.

I think he could work as a nightmare fueled hero. I like the idea that he is still connected to Dream, and possibly fueled by Nightmare energy (because he doesn't understand his powers as much as his father did). I thought Hypnotist was very effective and plot essential. Sorry if I let you down there. It would be easy to build a bruiser who is armored by fear, attacks with tentacles that have a resistance of Will instead of Toughness. You become a madness inducing monster. That might not be the way you want to go, but it would work for the darkness I imagine in the Team.

Fueled by nightmares is exactly the angle I was thinking of. Instead of channeling from the Fun part of The Dream Realm, he taps into the scary stuff. I'll stat that out later tonight.

@GM: How do you feel about Gylfir becoming some kind of corporate tycoon in the background? Similar to Oracle Industries (Namor's company), run by an ambiguous villain/hero, seemingly tries to do good. IIRC you said there'd be a bit of a timeskip after this leg.

That works for me.

And that is exit stage left for Gylfir...for now. I could see him coming back as a playable character in a future adventure, or be a supporting NPC; I envision him as someone with means and still a loose grasp on morality. He has a goal, and arguably a noble one, but few fetters to get in his way of accomplishing it. Making your own afterlife (and by extension setting yourself up as a sort of deity) is, at best, only one step removed from a supervillain plot, and so Deadman could even be used that way at some point.

As I begin my new build, I'm kind of stumping myself. As it is now, I leaned real heavy on a spooky bruiser who is freakishly quick and able to extend his limbs to lash out at his enemies. I know I'm going to miss some of that sweet Crowd Control that Hypnotist had though, so I'm gonna give this up as a rough draft to get some ideas.

Not really a commentary on current efficacy, but when you described the character I was actually thinking he might have a couple of powers with something like "Limited: targets who are Demoralized" or some such to model the "fueled by fear" thing.

Grace would go to Sinclair to Shambala if she could, especially if she is aware the other Master Mages are there, as she would like to see Merlin. Seven only told Sinclair about it, though, so I am not sure how she gets an invitation unless Sinclair tells her, and given Sinclair dislikes Grace, I am not sure he would tell her let alone allow her to come with, so I can't just assume she goes. I am a bit at a loss of how to proceed.

@Gracie, I suggest that you should assume that your character with the red-PC light on its head can go where ever you want, e.g. Shambala Vale.

I agree that we should probably describe/narrate how Gracie mends fences with Sinclair.

IMHO.

Cheers

In addition to what I posted in the game thread--Grace would go to Shambala if she could, but I can't assume she will be made aware that's an option--what would you like us to be posting as to aftermath?

More particularly, are we just still doing scene by scene reactions (aftermath of the city fight, scene in Shambala etc,) or going further to describe what happens in the next seven years?

I can note OOC what I intend to happen:
- She checks in with Winifred/her family as soon as she can
- She helps clean up the mess left behind by the fight, joining volunteer crews to clean up glass, replant gardens, pour concrete into giant-torn sidewalks, etc.
- Grace goes to Shambala if she can, doesn't if she isn't given the opportunity
- Within the next year or so she is contacted by the Green Knight, who wants to test her mettle as a great sword bearer. She is brought to Arcadia and trained and learns more about the fey.
- Feels like she's in Arcadia a week but returns to Earth a year and a day later
- Spends the rest of her time working with ELDRITCH to fight baddies

What of this would you like fleshed out and what of this is appropriate to post in game thread?

-----
On a separate note, Tumbler, I accidentally posted in-game under my default alias so now it's showing "DeathQuaker" as a character in the game. Would you mind marking "DeathQuaker" as inactive so it only shows Gracie in the character section? Thanks.

Good Knight Gracie wrote:

Grace would go to Sinclair to Shambala if she could, especially if she is aware the other Master Mages are there, as she would like to see Merlin. Seven only told Sinclair about it, though, so I am not sure how she gets an invitation unless Sinclair tells her, and given Sinclair dislikes Grace, I am not sure he would tell her let alone allow her to come with, so I can't just assume she goes. I am a bit at a loss of how to proceed.

@Gracie, I suggest that you should assume that your character with the red-PC light on its head can go where ever you want, e.g. Shambala Vale.

I agree that we should probably describe/narrate how Gracie mends fences with Sinclair.

IMHO.

Cheers

I was typing my other post as you replied.

To me I don't I can fairly assume I am given in-character knowledge only Sinclair possesses. Playing a PC doesn't give me the right to metagame.

Grace knows very little, also, IC, about how Sinclair feels about her--most of your posts on what he thinks of her were internal thoughts, so she can't address that directly either. Of course she can contend with her own initial misperceptions and will apologize for calling him "Malfoy" in their earliest interchange. I can post that, but I am open otherwise to how you think that should unfold.

@Gracie

While I agree with your normal assumption of not acting on metagame information, we've entered an odd, time-jump phase of the game. Since this is our game, we have joint authorship of the narration, especially with Tumbler's open invitation to travel to Shambala.

From that basis, I assume that you can take Gracie where ever you want to develop and get a handshake with Tumbler and/or player on the result. For example, 1) going to Shambala and 2) mending fences with Sinclair.

From my perspective, 2) is relatively easy. It just needs some better treatment of Sinclair by Gracie. Sinclair doesn't carry grudges unless you kill someone he loves.

cheers

My concern is I can't assume what your character tells me. I would be godmoding you, and that would be wrong. Only you can fix that, in my opinion.

So this may seem overkill, but I decided to review what happened between the two of them. I apologize as I may appear to be overworking this--my true intent is honestly just to be sure I can roleplay her reactions to things appropriately and not godmode or metagame. I apologize in advance if I am being obtuse.

Grace called Max out, including calling him "Draco," for talking over everyone else and telling folks what to do when she and some others didn't understand what was going on.

You followed by posting with a number of unspoken assumptions on Max's part about Grace that she is entirely unaware of and later he thinks of her as Selfish Knight Gracie.

Later in the same conversation, She spoke appreciatively of his contributing in a more team-friendly manner. He does not respond.

After Max brings her a cup of tea, though still thinking foul thoughts about her, Grace admits she was perhaps wrong about him. He does grin in response.

She later asks Sinclair if he is alright after he is assaulted in the nightmare realm. (And she just now again also asked him if she was alright as she does not know about the kiss.)

That's most of the interaction they've had. Max's early thoughts about Grace were pretty harsh, and also they are only known to me, the player, not the character. I don't know if the thoughts have changed. Grace has already tried to ease things between them--perhaps awkwardly and ineffectively--to the extent she can. She has already admitted she may have been wrong and has no further sense any amends need to be made, so I don't see why she would bring up the issue again. (perhaps indeed Sinclair has forgiven her, I have no idea.)

Neither she nor I know whether he sits---and again, therefore, I can't assume what your character tells me. Tumbler can certainly declare she learns about it elsewhere, but it would be disrespectful to you and your character if I assumed anything about what he shares or if he would invite her along. I get that you're saying "Grace should come because plot" but it would be helpful to know how she becomes aware of the option to attend. All I need to know is "Yes, Max tells her" or "no he doesn't."

In short, the ball is in your court.

@GKG

Sinclair would tell everyone about going to Shambala, because he cannot get there by himself. Further, I had Sinclair tag along with Silver Tiger, because Sinclair doesn't know where it is, as the GM inferred in his post. So, no he would not invite Gracie to come with him, but he would not oppose her coming (because the GM and players want it).

All of the other "godmodding" that's in the post above, I stand by this hand-waving statement that two players can do for their two characters, "mending fences with Sinclair is relatively easy. It just needs some better treatment of Sinclair by Gracie."

that's it.

I think it is reasonable to say that Max would have to talk to the others about Shambala, as he has no ability to get there. He has to talk to Silver Tiger to find a guide (I mean, he could wander around in the Himalayas, but that doesn't seem productive.)

I do appreciate that Gracie/Death Quaker never assumes the actions of other players/characters. There are a lot of good reasons for that.

More particularly, are we just still doing scene by scene reactions (aftermath of the city fight, scene in Shambala etc,) or going further to describe what happens in the next seven years?

I can note OOC what I intend to happen:
- She checks in with Winifred/her family as soon as she can
- She helps clean up the mess left behind by the fight, joining volunteer crews to clean up glass, replant gardens, pour concrete into giant-torn sidewalks, etc.
- Grace goes to Shambala if she can, doesn't if she isn't given the opportunity
- Within the next year or so she is contacted by the Green Knight, who wants to test her mettle as a great sword bearer. She is brought to Arcadia and trained and learns more about the fey.
- Feels like she's in Arcadia a week but returns to Earth a year and a day later
- Spends the rest of her time working with ELDRITCH to fight baddies

What of this would you like fleshed out and what of this is appropriate to post in game thread?

I think we may need a week or so to get ready to run the next session. Characters, establishing the background for 2020, and whatever else we need to do.

Let's play things that are pretty close to 2013 in Gameplay. I think we can have multiple scenes playing out concurrently.

Let's keep discussion of things that happen in the time gap here in discussion.

Also, some notes about the Crypt and Shambala Vale.

You can't teleport into the Vale or the Crypt. They exist in a "dimensional fold," a sort of pocket dimension. The Vale can only be entered through a gate, and that gate opens and closes and moves around. It mostly moves around in the mountains, though it can appear anywhere in the world. No one knows what controls the gate.

You could learn to go there using Dimensional Movement, with a Complication that sometimes the way is closed.

As for the Master Mages, their spirits linger in the Crypt of Karu going back at least to Merlin. Their spirits can speak there, but it isn't like they sit around having coffee. And, being wizards, their answers to any questions tend to be cryptic.

Would definitely be a good reason to take Contacts.

I'll need to make a post for Cesarina as well, soon. And get her Complications up on her sheet.

I don't know if this appeals to any of you, but if anyone is interested in thinking about villains from the Freedomverse that you have faced in 7 years of being Eldritch, those could play a role in future adventures. Any big baddies you want to have faced?

Could also be Complications.

Alternately, you could reserve a Complication to declare that a villain you encounter in an adventure has history with the group. That might be a good solution.

@GKG

Sinclair would tell everyone about going to Shambala, because he cannot get there by himself. Further, I had Sinclair tag along with Silver Tiger, because Sinclair doesn't know where it is, as the GM inferred in his post. So, no he would not invite Gracie to come with him, but he would not oppose her coming (because the GM and players want it).

Ok, cool. That wasn't clear to me, so I appreciate your explaining it. Thank you.

All of the other "godmodding" that's in the post above, I stand by this hand-waving statement that two players can do for their two characters, "mending fences with Sinclair is relatively easy. It just needs some better treatment of Sinclair by Gracie."

that's it.

Well, as I recounted, she has on the whole been fairly nice to him, save for one very initial misunderstanding, and bearing in mind they hardly know one another. Max has also barely talked to her, so if they are going to be anything more than coolly cooperative, I am also going to need some interaction from him so we can develop some CR. Putting the onus entirely on me to change things is entirely unfair. If you're not willing to offer that, then our characters remaining coolly cooperative/nominally communicative is fine with me. All I needed to know was "how does she find out about Shambala and would it be reasonable to presume she could go?" If he tells the group as a whole and the group in general agrees to head to Tibet and find a guide, that works.

@Sinclair
you're not wrong. I've had a bit of brainfog lately so I really couldn't articulate what I was trying to do. I'm gonna give the rough draft another try.

Pretty much everyone I know, in real life and here on the boards, is quite a mess right now mentally and emotionally. I'm trying to give myself and everyone else a lot of grace.

That applies to character planning and player misunderstandings. And on my end, to trying to pull off a 7 year time jump without sidelining EM for a month.

Sinclair's tentative jump plan:

2013 start Harvard College
2019 graduate Harvard College. Two extra years due to missing/dropping courses to saving the world
2020 return to Freedom City.

Questions:

Any issues with no obvious source of income? Could use a foundation funded by magical contacts

Potential Villain Complications with magical flavor. @GM, any preference?
* Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign
* Conqueror Worm
* Hades?
* Hellqueen
* Overshadow
* Ragnorak
* Tarot
* Warden

Cheers

I just realized I keep saying "Arcadia" when I mean "Avalon." Apparently all these years later Changeling: the Dreaming is still on my mind.

I don't know if this appeals to any of you, but if anyone is interested in thinking about villains from the Freedomverse that you have faced in 7 years of being Eldritch, those could play a role in future adventures. Any big baddies you want to have faced?

Could also be Complications.

Alternately, you could reserve a Complication to declare that a villain you encounter in an adventure has history with the group. That might be a good solution.

Got ninjaed by this post.

Most of my M&M books are 2e, so my Freedomverse knowledge is a little out of date (that game companies always feel the need to change/add metaplot when they revise editions aggravates me to no end; I know it's so they can sell more books, but it also means if you have your own homecanon where heroes have made their own impact on the world, anything the devs come up with can invalidate your own campaigns' developments and force additional work/homebrewing on your part). Reviewing the relevant books I have (Freedom City, Book of Magic), I don't see any in-world villains that scream both "magic" and specific to Gracie. More of a socio-political villain with a vague "knight" theme, it would be interesting for her to have encountered/fought White Knight (who would probably be disgusted at the idea of woman, let alone a lesbian, wielding Excalibur), but I'm not sure how that might play into Eldritch or the story.

I invented a villain she encountered in her early career as a hero, the "Dartful Codger," who is obviously an old British man turned to crime with a Dickensian theme. I like to think he was denied his pension due to a bureaucratic error and, infused with great agility due to some chemical accident, decided to take his vengeance upon the worthless whippersnappers of the world. Not sure that would be appropriate for this campaign either. ;)

A final, perhaps best option is that during her year in Avalon, she gains a fey nemesis. I am not aware of any canon evil fey (which doesn't mean they don't exist). Morgaine seems too obvious and too powerful (plus I like the idea of her as more gray area) but perhaps someone else she encounters whom she offends, intentionally or no. Maybe some sort of Wild Hunt idea--attacked by some fey creature, she kills it in self-defense (or it is threatening some other innocent), and it turns out to have been the prey of some fey lord who's angry by the kill-steal (or perhaps it was someone's pet).

I would be up for brainstorming a group villain that Eldritch has fought. Book of Magic contains not a canon character, but a statblock template for a demon who feeds on fear and nightmares who would appropriate to New-Hypnotist's theme; perhaps we've all encountered it together?

Also, how do we "become" Eldritch? No one's yet replied to Gracie IC and while I am happy to handwave if no one wants to roleplay, would be good if we got down how we agree to interpret Seven's last instructions as "stay together and fight magic foes." How do we identify threats and tackle them? How do we agree upon decisions? Do we have an agreed-upon leader? How do we vet new members? (E.g., how do we learn about Cesarina?)

Sorry for all the rambling. Really trying to safely distract myself from reality in all ways possible.

I'm sorry yall, but I'm going to have to put this game's stuff on hold until Tuesday. Besides the obvious stressors currently in the US, I've got a busy work weekend, and I'm also premiering my new twitch stream on Monday. Needless to say, my nerves are shot and my brain is maxing out on creativity. As my character will be just joining the world of super heroics in his early 20's, I don't think he'd have many bonds in that regard.I do like the idea of The Hypnotist's son being haunted (and hunted) by something from the dream realm. It would make sense for it to be the Yowie since we had that scene.

I'm currently hammering some prep work for the stream, but if I have any time before I head into work, I will try to slip in a new build.

Also, how do we "become" Eldritch? No one's yet replied to Gracie IC and while I am happy to handwave if no one wants to roleplay, would be good if we got down how we agree to interpret Seven's last instructions as "stay together and fight magic foes." How do we identify threats and tackle them? How do we agree upon decisions? Do we have an agreed-upon leader? How do we vet new members? (E.g., how do we learn about Cesarina?)

@GM, does it matter where or how our characters are in 2020? 1) Should our characters be well-connected and well-practiced working together? 2) Should we all be based in Freedom City? Meaning, does your first encounter in the jump allow for entrance of new characters and require location in Freedom City, or easy assembly after a call?

After the GM clarifies the sandbox of restart, how do we players want our character relationships to be after the jump?

When we restart in 2020, Sinclair will be based in Freedom City? How and in what capacity, I don't know yet.

During the seven years, he will be active saving the world and collecting magical enemies who are taking advantage of the absence of the Master Mage. He would be available for team-ups and relationship development.

cheers

After the GM clarifies the sandbox of restart, how do we players want our character relationships to be after the jump?

I'm looking to kick this off with Oz knocking on the door to whatever ELDRITCH has as a headquarters. He'd be sent there by a dream, but wouldn't readily admit that. He'd come looking for information on his father's disappearance. I'd love to play him as a total mundane until panic takes over.

Forgot
* Medea - PL 10

Potential Villain Complications with magical flavor.
* Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign - PL X
* Conqueror Worm - PL 10
* Hades - PL 15
* Hellqueen - PL 11
* Overshadow - PL 15
* Ragnorak - PL 15
* Tarot - PL 8
* Warden - PL 11

@GM, any preference?

Sinclair's tentative jump plan:

2013 start Harvard College
2019 graduate Harvard College. Two extra years due to missing/dropping courses to saving the world
2020 return to Freedom City.

Questions:

Any issues with no obvious source of income? Could use a foundation funded by magical contacts

There is no in game need for income. You can be a starving student, or your basic needs can be covered with a scholarship. All of that is narrative.

Re: Gracie villains
I've poked around in Arthurian stories over the weekend and not been too inspired. I want to avoid villainizing one of the women. I like the idea of Morgaine being an ambiguous figure. Driven, but not a pure villain. Might be interesting if Morgause is more straight up villainous and the two of them are frequently confused.

For a more straightforward villain, I'm thinking Gwyn ap Nudd might be a good fit. Sometime leader of the Wild Hunt, ties to both pre-Arthur and Arthurian mythology. Later tossed to the curb in favor of Christianity. Has some nice Woten-ness without being as powerful. This works well for her mini-series set in Avalon.

Re: Other stuff

I think connected is sufficient. I don't think she needs to be a minion unless you want to have her taking some sort of actions in the background. And that can still work with the Complication. Winifred's office get's turned into a monster filled castle by a spell but she is sneaking around giving intel would be something that ticks both boxes, for example.

Other stuff: would Grace have met Arthur in Avalon, and how does he feel about her having Calesvol/Excalibur?

I'm not sure how to think about this. 1. I'm not sure Arthur should be just hanging out doing nothing. Maybe he should be in stasis or something? I kind of like the idea of using Arthur as a villain. What if he actually returned to be King of the Britons? Lots of the early Arthur stories have an Arthur who is very isolationist, and some of the French versions cast him as a villain. What if he came back as a far right figure, a metaphor for Brexit. That would be worth making part of the game, I think, not part of backstory.

Any fallout from Grace disappearing unexpectedly for a year that I should consider (otherwise I'll make it up as I go along)?

I would think that if she disappeared for a year, she might be declared dead, someone might go looking for her. I'll have to ponder that, but I don't need for it to be a big deal.

Everyone: For me, part of the fun of Mutants and Masterminds games which may or may not appeal to you (and either way is good with me) is the story but also the meta-story of these being published comics. This is sort of baked into the way the official materials talk about their history.

From that perspective, I see Eldritch as a long running comic, going back as far as comics publishing. Adrian Eldritch has been the lead of that book for its long run. In 2013, the publishers controversially kill off Eldritch, and, even more controversially, sideline fan favorite Seven, who was assumed to be the next Master Mage and take over leading the book.

Instead, the book becomes a team book, featuring Sinclair, Gracie, Deadman, and Eoten. Other members probably come and go. Gracie leaves for a storyline when she disappears to Avalon. Increasingly, Deadman moves to be more of a supporting character.

That's my take on it. If that element doesn't appeal to you, then you can certainly ignore it. It doesn't really affect the game, it just makes happy fizzy bubbles in my imagination.

Sinclair (and everyone):

Medea and Hellqueen would be great to have some history with. They are good rivals for the group or Sinclair.

I love the idea of Ragnarok as a sort of "What if Thor, but a bad guy." Not so much the god Thor, but the idea of him as processed through Neo-Nazis. The only thing better than punching Nazis in the face is punching Neo-Nazi proto-gods in the face.

Any of those can work.

Hades is specifically prohibited from getting directly involved with Earth, which is not to say that he wouldn't empower some villains to take advantage of the situation.

A whole villain team of Hades backed villains is a fun idea.

Hades is specifically prohibited from getting directly involved with Earth, which is not to say that he wouldn't empower some villains to take advantage of the situation.

A whole villain team of Hades backed villains is a fun idea.

Hades as a crime boss is some good stuff I'd love to read.

Everyone: For me, part of the fun of Mutants and Masterminds games which may or may not appeal to you (and either way is good with me) is the story but also the meta-story of these being published comics. This is sort of baked into the way the official materials talk about their history.

From that perspective, I see Eldritch as a long running comic, going back as far as comics publishing. Adrian Eldritch has been the lead of that book for its long run. In 2013, the publishers controversially kill off Eldritch, and, even more controversially, sideline fan favorite Seven, who was assumed to be the next Master Mage and take over leading the book.

Instead, the book becomes a team book, featuring Sinclair, Gracie, Deadman, and Eoten. Other members probably come and go. Gracie leaves for a storyline when she disappears to Avalon. Increasingly, Deadman moves to be more of a supporting character.

That's my take on it. If that element doesn't appeal to you, then you can certainly ignore it. It doesn't really affect the game, it just makes happy fizzy bubbles in my imagination.

Sounds cool. Dunno if you read the old Heroes for Hire series, but I'm cool with Deadman taking on a similar role as Jim Hammond in that series; mission control and bankroll, primarily.

And related to Deadman and Hammond, you will not have access to the Nerian Nexus during the 7 years, though it does play a role in the first adventure when we come back.

Not sure what would be the best bet for a headquarters, and it really only matters storywise, but it might make sense for Deadman to provide something. A gothic mansion or castle of some sort might make more sense than a skyscraper.

Everyone: For me, part of the fun of Mutants and Masterminds games which may or may not appeal to you (and either way is good with me) is the story but also the meta-story of these being published comics. This is sort of baked into the way the official materials talk about their history.

From that perspective, I see Eldritch as a long running comic, going back as far as comics publishing. Adrian Eldritch has been the lead of that book for its long run. In 2013, the publishers controversially kill off Eldritch, and, even more controversially, sideline fan favorite Seven, who was assumed to be the next Master Mage and take over leading the book.

Instead, the book becomes a team book, featuring Sinclair, Gracie, Deadman, and Eoten. Other members probably come and go. Gracie leaves for a storyline when she disappears to Avalon. Increasingly, Deadman moves to be more of a supporting character.

That's my take on it. If that element doesn't appeal to you, then you can certainly ignore it. It doesn't really affect the game, it just makes happy fizzy bubbles in my imagination.

I really like this perspective, too. Thanks!

I'll add Medea and Hellqueen to Sinclair's complications and story of the time jump.

It would be great if Deadman's HQ would allow entrance using Dimension Travel, so Sinclair can get there from anywhere on the planet. His Teleport is not that far.

Where is the Nexian Nexus, physically, like the front door?

How was Sinclair's history lesson on Master Mages? OK? Meh? Inaccurate?

cheers

've poked around in Arthurian stories over the weekend and not been too inspired. I want to avoid villainizing one of the women. I like the idea of Morgaine being an ambiguous figure. Driven, but not a pure villain. Might be interesting if Morgause is more straight up villainous and the two of them are frequently confused.

For a more straightforward villain, I'm thinking Gwyn ap Nudd might be a good fit. Sometime leader of the Wild Hunt, ties to both pre-Arthur and Arthurian mythology. Later tossed to the curb in favor of Christianity. Has some nice Woten-ness without being as powerful. This works well for her mini-series set in Avalon.

Gwyn ap Nudd would be interesting, that sounds good.

I'm not sure how to think about this. 1. I'm not sure Arthur should be just hanging out doing nothing. Maybe he should be in stasis or something? I kind of like the idea of using Arthur as a villain. What if he actually returned to be King of the Britons? Lots of the early Arthur stories have an Arthur who is very isolationist, and some of the French versions cast him as a villain. What if he came back as a far right figure, a metaphor for Brexit. That would be worth making part of the game, I think, not part of backstory.

That is interesting; Arthur as villain didn't occur to me (though I too have seen representations of him as either villainous or at least antagonistic). I brought it up because I mentioned the Green Knight, and I read a sentence in one of the books that says he is "in Avalon with Arthur"--but is he hanging out with him, or is he watching over his slumbering form? Arthur isn't supposed to return to Earth until "he is needed" -- it may not be his choice, but some geas set by the fey who rescued and healed him? Fey are weird and random. At the same time, the UK in political crisis could indeed be a signal for him to return and he totally interprets how he is needed could be... unexpected. If he does show up, Gracie has his sword (given to her legitimately by its guardian, the Lady of the Lake) which is problematic... he is supposed to return with Excalibur in hand. Of course there could be more than one. But then we get the law of Diminishing Magic Items...

rom that perspective, I see Eldritch as a long running comic, going back as far as comics publishing. Adrian Eldritch has been the lead of that book for its long run. In 2013, the publishers controversially kill off Eldritch, and, even more controversially, sideline fan favorite Seven, who was assumed to be the next Master Mage and take over leading the book.

Instead, the book becomes a team book, featuring Sinclair, Gracie, Deadman, and Eoten. Other members probably come and go. Gracie leaves for a storyline when she disappears to Avalon. Increasingly, Deadman moves to be more of a supporting character.

Because I am an editor and notice stuff like this, and it's starting to drive me crazy because this is how my brain works:

The superhero's name is Eldrich (without the t)
But the name of the team is Eldritch (from the actual english word for mystical/otherworldly).

The name of the comic could still be "Eldritch" but it is not his name so the comic can't be named after him. Given early comic books were collections of tales like "Action Tales!" and "Mystery Comics!" maybe the comic was originally "Eldritch Tales" and then it just became "Eldritch."

As for the actual idea that this is an ongoing comic--yes, awesome.

Medea and Hellqueen would be great to have some history with. They are good rivals for the group or Sinclair.

I think Medea works great for Sinclair and also Dunwich if that character returns in particular, and she would make a good group enemy as well. She's also potentially a fascinating, complex character--heartless but driven mad due to mistreatment (if the character is reflective of the mythical figure), she could be the sort of villain who is merciless one moment and unexpectedly aids the heroes the next. (Not that I am EVER into that sort of villainous character, no sir, not me...)

The Nexus is a brownstone on Ditko street in Freedom City. Basically a copy of Strange’s Sanctum.

As for starting back up, the team can be scattered, but it starts in Freedom City.

Summary of the Master Mage and history is good.

I did not notice the difference between Eldritch and Eldrich until GKG pointed it out.

So, I had an idea: with Adrian Eldrich dead, would anyone mind if Sinclair took up the mantle/name of Eldritch? Meaning, calling himself Eldritch. Sort of like when others have taken up the mantle of Batman.

I don't want to take more of a spotlight in the team, but I was thinking it might be an interesting idea for continuity. Obviously, most allies and villains would know the difference, but the mass would not and see continuity.

Appreciate your feedback.

thanks

I wouldn't mind, especially since Sinclair is his descendant. I can also see how Sinclair might take Seven's declaration especially to heart, given his connection to her as well.

As for starting/being in Freedom City, I figure Grace can also work on her plant science degree and will have enrolled in a university in Freedom City to do that, so she can be in Freedom City often. She probably will occasionally travel home to London when possible.

Oh, speaking of which--SuperTumbler, if you need another plot hook/complication for Grace, I was thinking her mother could disappear mysteriously on an archeology expedition. Could even tie it to Gwyn ap Nudd--or be something else.