I am wondering if there is interest in a Modern League of Extraordinary Persons (Gentlemen) using the Mutants and Masterminds Third Edition.
By that I mean a fun romp through modern stories using pre-existing literary, television, and cinematic characters. Tonally, it would be more action adventure than post-modern deconstruction full of reprehensible characters.
Character creation would be something like PL 8, 120 points. Familiarity with the rules is not necessary. There is an SRD and, while character creation can be a little tricky, gameplay is very easy.
The setting would be a 2018 where "all stories are true." Obviously, we would have to massage that setting quite a bit, but generally characters would be fictional characters who could reasonably be adventuring in 2018 based on the rules created by their own stories. No heroes or villains would quite conform to the versions that appear in their stories.
Like I said, this is just an Interest Check, not a Recruitment.
I'm interested, but never played that system. The premise sounds like loads of fun.
You mean I could play at 38 year old Harry Potter?
I'm interested in what the limitation on the characters could be. For example could we use characters from the 80's or older?
Characters could be any fictional character with a story that would allow them to be adventuring in 2018. You can tweak their story to allow them to be alive if they die in their own story. Our versions are assumed to be the "real" versions, so we can take some liberties. This also would apply to characters who have multiple versions, like The A-Team or MacGyver.
So, yes, you could play a 38 year old Harry Potter, but having Doc Brown bring a young Harry to 2018 so you can play the young version would be cheating.
80's examples:
For example:
Harry Potter is 38.
Jules and Verne Brown from Back to the Future 3 could be almost any age given their time travelling nature.
Henry Jones Jr. could maybe still be kicking around given his drinking from the Holy Grail.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome takes place around 2014-2018, so someone from that setting could show up.
Jurassic World happened a few years ago.
Those are not suggestions, just a sense of what can happen.
I'd prefer to avoid true super heroes, as the power level gets too high.
|
This sounds like it could be a lot of fun. I'd be interested. I already have a few concepts swirling in my head :-)
What about superheroes? I'm guessing that you do NOT want Batman or Supergirl to show up, as it would kind of miss the point :-). But I thought I'd mention the possibility?
On a related note, what about characters from a fiction that can NOT really coexist with our own? Harry Potter clearly can (Magic is hidden from Muggles, after all). But Wild Cards clearly can't (it very visibly changed the whole world).
I THINK I've answered my own questions. Characters must be from a fictional reality that, at least on the surface, is VERY close to our own. Buffy, Dracula, Harry Potter all work. Lensman, Superman, Wild Cards do NOT.
That is a pretty good answer. Superheroes change the tone of the adventure. For me it is fun to think of a Terminator in Jurassic Park, but Superman in Jurassic Park isn't much of a threat.
On the surface very close to our own is a good way to look at it, though you can also have some fun just shrinking the scope of stories to bring them together. I mentioned Mad Max above. Maybe Australia looks like post apocalyptic Mad Max land for some reason, but it doesn't extend to the rest of the world.
You also have to assume that the world recovers quickly from terrible catastrophe. So maybe in 1996 the Earth was invaded by aliens who destroyed many major landmarks, but all of that has been repaired by now.
I am somewhat intrigued by the idea. I like cross-fandom stories so this could be fun. I'm not sure what I'd play. (Lengthy rambly musing follows.)
Like, I'd be kind of keen on playing, say, the Bionic Woman, but if we're being technical about the years the characters come from, she'd be in her late 60s and--with all due respect to Lindsay Wagner who is kicking ass in her own way--not sure if that's a great heroic age, cybernetic upgrades or no. (I guess perhaps the cybernetics could help keep her young if one gets some creative license.)
Maybe Fred Burkle/Illyria from the Angel Comics/Angel TV series? She is alive and well (and I think relatively unaging because of being inhabited by an Old One) in the current present-day comics, sharing her body with Illyria a a separate entity, and the two sort of get along but also fight for control. (Yes, in the show it looked like Illyria totally subsumed Fred in the show, but the comics have returned Fred as herself.)
I wish I could come up with some good literary characters, but being a lit major who focused on historic fiction, a lot of the stuff I've read is from prior centuries (and yes I've read Harry Potter and love it but not keen on making a character from that universe). The one heroine I can think of is Temperance Brennan from the Bones books (who is not the Temperance Brennan from the Bones TV show) but she doesn't have any superpowers, though I guess I could give her super senses when reading forensic evidence or something.
How old is James Bond in this universe? He's been around since the 1950s but still yet young enough to be Daniel Craig.
Are all genres/parts of the world acceptable? Like anime/manga a possibility? I do have a huge soft place in my heart for Maggie Mui from the Read or Dream manga/R.O.D the TV series, but she feels like too obviously a superhero--though with the literary feel of the Read or Die universe, would be a good fit for an LXG sort of game.
Very cool idea. Not 100% sure I'd submit something.
Remember there was a not great reboot of The Bionic Woman in 2007, so that gets you much closer.
Fred would make sense, and has some super without being Super.
When it comes to Legacy characters like the Bionic Woman or James Bond, my preference would be It's All True (kind of), so both Bionic women existed, all of the Bonds are real. It's a code name that gets passed from agent to agent. I know that makes Skyfall pretty weird, but there is evidence both ways in even Skyfall since he drives a car owned by Connery.
Definitely different parts of the world and anime would be fine within the timeframe limits.
Remember there was a not great reboot of The Bionic Woman in 2007, so that gets you much closer.
There was no reboot in 2007 and I reject any reality that says otherwise. ;)
I'd really want to play specifically the version from the 1970s series, in terms of personality and background. I'm guessing that'd be too problematic (although she WAS cryogenically frozen in the TV show, she could be again...)
Fred would make sense, and has some super without being Super.When it comes to Legacy characters like the Bionic Woman or James Bond, my preference would be It's All True (kind of), so both Bionic women existed, all of the Bonds are real. It's a code name that gets passed from agent to agent. I know that makes Skyfall pretty weird, but there is evidence both ways in even Skyfall since he drives a car owned by Connery.
Definitely different parts of the world and anime would be fine within the timeframe limits.
All good to know. Thanks.
You are right to put limits on this. the last time we tried to do a super-agent game it sucked because the limits were fluid and some people went a lot more super than others.
Right now I'm thinking of a few ideas: Captain Jack Harkness from Dr. Who/Torchwood. Agent J from MiB. Cameron from T:SCC (though that might be hard to do in 120 points)
Shadowhunters is a show that you can mine lots of ideas from. Most of their people could be done somewhat in PL8. Once Upon a Time brought lots of fairy tale and Disney characters into modern day.
Would you consider starting higher than 120, while keeping it PL8? I don't see this as the kind of game that has major jumps in PL, so we'll eventually be breaking the PL/point link.
I'd like to play Seth Brundle as a mutant that can change from human to fly. Is that possible?
Keeping his human size as a fly.
Yeah, I'll ponder offering more power points, or maybe changing the cost of skill points.
I definitely want it to be a campaign where a T-800, Owen Grady, or Rachel Morgan and it's fun for everyone. Balancing characters on a team is always important in MNM.
Mulling interest - pretty cool idea...
Considering Roy Batty - as the original Blade Runner is set in 2019, but he was activated in 2016 so has been potentially around for around 2 years.
Batty and Brundle would both be viable characters.
ok GM SuperTumbler you had me at hello.
How about Eric Northman from Trueblood?
Could you see Hector Escaton, robot-pistolero escaped from Westworld, fit in this?
Let's have some fun with Google and see what we can do. The Westworld movie was released in 1973 and set in 1983. This is the movie where Yul Brenner bot goes crazy. So there was a park with robots in 1983. There is a sequel, Futureworld, that takes place 2 years later, so 1985. There is also a series of only 5 episodes where a scientist somehow is going to take over the world with some of the robots form the failed Westworld.
Also interestingly,
Based on some eagle eyed reddit users, we know that THIS HAPPENS IN 2018!
So I would allow an old fashioned robot type robot version of Hector, like what we see of Dolores in the flashbacks, but not the fully organic style ones.
Can we start fleshing out the character?
Edelsmerge, not saying no to Eric, but these are the concerns I would have:
Eric is very versatile. His power suite includes mental compulsions, flight, super strength, super speed, enhanced senses, regeneration. His major disadvantages are keeping the rest of the party from functioning during the day and having his head cut off. I mean, the head thing is a disadvantage for most people.
I would want to make sure he doesn't outclass other characters at their own things. I suspect we could make it work.
Gryggax, I'm confident I will go forward based on the interest that I've seen. I'm not sure if I will create a formal Recruitment thread or just go from this one.
True SuperTumbler he is the man! Alright let me peruse my literary data bank and look for something a little less kick a$$
How would you feel about Roland Deschain? As much as I love Idris Elba I would be going with the books over the movie.
Roland would make sense.
Still that first reload scene in the village of Drawing of the Three is the bomb.
Two questions.
1. For clarity, we should create characters based off of one that exist in popular culture?
2. I would like Brundlefly to be able to spew acid for about 10-20 feet and I cannot find a power that let's me do that. Is there one?
I know this will be obscure but Edgar Allen Poe wrote a novella called "a man of the crowd" in which the principal man was a faceless anybody of the ages who was first one then the next faceless untracable person of the crowd. Better the tell tale heart it's one of Poes most terrifying stories. Perhaps I could be the man of the crowd?
2. I would like Brundlefly to be able to spew acid for about 10-20 feet and I cannot find a power that let's me do that. Is there one?
It would just be a Ranged Damage power with the Acid descriptor. 2 points per rank. Give it something like Weaken (Toughness) with the Affects Only Objects drawback attached to it as well and it could eat through inanimate objects more easily with only 1 cost per rank extra.
Dotting in also with a few potential ideas. I remember really liking a novel series where the main character was a spellcaster/hacker and Greek Mythology was real at one point or another. Had a goblin that turned into a laptop, gained the powers of some minor chaos god at some point.
Or maybe I could be a Stand user. =)
I'm going to duck out of this one - notion of playing a Nexus 6 is a cool one, but to be honest upon review I'd rather forge an original character than my likely dopplegang take on such an iconic character as Roy Batty.
Cheers
BD
I'm going to duck out of this one - notion of playing a Nexus 6 is a cool one, but to be honest upon review I'd rather forge an original character than my likely dopplegang take on such an iconic character as Roy Batty.
Cheers
BD
The potential of this game IMO is less the opportunity of playing an iconic character, and more the potential of taking lesser known or background characters from iconic works and making something of them.
For example, were I to play a JoJo character (though likely not), playing Jotaro would be pretty boring. Playing Koichi, on the other hand, may be less so. Or instead of playing Harry Dresden, playing one of those kids from is D&D group. Just my take.
Presenting Brundlefly, I will attach the background, any input is welcome. Thanks in advance for your consideration.
This is my first character, so feel free to point out errors.
I'm going to duck out of this one - notion of playing a Nexus 6 is a cool one, but to be honest upon review I'd rather forge an original character than my likely dopplegang take on such an iconic character as Roy Batty.
Cheers
BD
The potential of this game IMO is less the opportunity of playing an iconic character, and more the potential of taking lesser known or background characters from iconic works and making something of them.
For example, were I to play a JoJo character (though likely not), playing Jotaro would be pretty boring. Playing Koichi, on the other hand, may be less so. Or instead of playing Harry Dresden, playing one of those kids from is D&D group. Just my take.
Yeah I do get that - had actually mentioned building Leon Kowalski as opposed to Roy but I'll still pass - plenty of others willing to pick up the cudgel and run with this one :)
Remember there was a not great reboot of The Bionic Woman in 2007, so that gets you much closer.There was no reboot in 2007 and I reject any reality that says otherwise. ;)
I'd really want to play specifically the version from the 1970s series, in terms of personality and background. I'm guessing that'd be too problematic (although she WAS cryogenically frozen in the TV show, she could be again...)
The cryogenically frozen until she could be cured solves the problem of getting her to the present for me.
I'll put together a formal recruitment and post it later today.