Anaylsis of Colosonaut era
Okay now that the arc is done my two cents.
If there are two words i had to say to determine the colossonaut saga, it would be wasted potential.
We were told, not shown, that Cyttorak had given Colossus more power then classic Juggernaut.
However, we were never shown this. After his great stalemating of Kuurth, he pretty much did little of consequence into the background.
If somebody has a list of classic feats of juggernaut, I'd love it to have it posted, because then we can compare it to colossus' feats below.
Colossus appreciation thread
I can almost guarentee you that he did little to nothing of consequence with the new power.
Here are the few I remember.
**************************
1. the sinister story arc: sinister shows up, takes over the xtinction team, and colossus has his helmet on.
sinister should have felt like he was in a cage match with a god and be shaking.
one optic blast later, he was receptive like everybody else.
Don't get me wrong, this is a common way to defeat classic juggernaut. namely get the helmet off and mindscrew him.
but other then a head squish (which colossus could have done anyways), what did he do to show his new power level?
2. Tabula Rosa: I remember precisely one thing from this that might have shown it.
When Magik got captured, he morphed up and basically singlehandedly killed the alien monsters.
sounds awesome right.
It happened off screen...grumble.
Plus recent info might mean that magik was merely toying with him by allowing herself to be captured. So off screen and inconsequential.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Martian Manhunter - Some thoughts
Jonn Jonez has potential.
He's a lonely lovecraftean horror whom has an overwhelming desire to do good.
That premise could drive stories for decades.
It even comes with a standard format that has been used from everything from the Fugitive, the Pretender to the Littlest Hobo. Heck the Zeta Project might give a base as well.
Here's a base structure.
1. Stranger comes into town tracking and pretends to be just a dude.
2. Stranger is Jonn tracking an unsolved case or mystery. Bonus points if it comes from his own past in some manner.
3. Jonn sets up things so that the punishment fits the crime, taking special care not to try too hard and to spend too much tiime on it, as any # of enemies are nipping at his heels.
4. Jonn berrates evil doer as his trap is sprung.
5. Jonn disappears into a crowd, as if he never existed.
Remember that stupid storyline where Superman went on a road trip.
with Jonn it would actually work.
and you can showcase parts of the dc universe. Themyscira, Atlantis, Gorilla City, even Apokalips would put a spin on the formula.
Now as for a rogue's gallery, it's pretty simple.
1. Cademus: They would be the main chaser as this "unseen monster" would set off Amanda Waller's button's hard. You could create a group of operatives (skilled and metas) who have done their homework and are prepped accordingly.
2. Alien infestations: Characters like the Reach, Intergang, and the Krolotean are one of the reasons he went under the radar. You do him like a boogymen to body snatchers. but shadow wars often cast a bright light.
3. Justice league: Something bad happened that was unforgivable to his former members causing him to go into exile. While the big guns are somewhat ignoring it (Batman is specifically obfuscating), some of the b and c members are particularly butt hurt allowing for hero vs hero battles.
A great foil that would also develop that character as well is Firestorm. He's powerful enough to force Jonn to pull out a ton of tricks and his powerset could kill Jonn. Plus the multiple minds acts as a partial defense against his telepathy.
4. Himself: One of the reasons Jonn Jonez works under the radar is if he ever cuts loose at full power, the madness takes over. If superman sees a world of cardboard, Jonn sees a world of action figures. He has to work to stay humble to avoid becoming one of the greatest threats to the planet.
It not just that. He's kinda callous and lonely. Pull a doctor who and give him a companion that acts as the pov character. They hang around for a story arc and then, he let's them go.
Sometimes he just disappears, leaving them to reflect and potentially grow in their own right
Sometimes he sets them up for a better life,
Sometimes they end tragically.
and in one case, he accidently makes a monster that hates him with everything he/she/it is.
5. At least one fire based character: Let's use that weakness against him.
6. Martian artifacts: One of the reasons he went into exile is a # of items during the 19th century are being unearthed. These items are tainted artifacts that usually result horror story ending for the wielder.
It's relatively easy to take one of these artifacts and build part of his rogues gallery.
7. Tharks: There is a community of Tharks that have been regenetically engineered to survive on our planet and are a tough bunch of goons. They have adapted ancient technology and have become planetary raiders.
Tar Tarkas did too good a job civilizing the Tharks, and they combined their brains and brawns to be a threat big enough to go toe to toe with some of the bigger threats.
and they remember the oppession of the green and then the white martians all too well.
They are a polar opposite of Jonn in that they are not subtle and play up their power for they are afraid to be powerless.
8. Lovecraftean horrors: I would add an element where part of the decline of the martian race was their dealing with stuff that is absolutely alien and incomprehsible. Perhaps the mi-go /martians fought a war thousands of years before both went into decline. Perhaps a shoggot is actually a corrupted martian.
9. White Martians: I would use these sparingly as they are more a capstone, much like Zod is to Superman. But the race that killed Mars continues to live like an infestation.
and give it a face. Even the Daleks have a few members that are distinctive as a face.
****************************
But I kinda like he idea of a little from column a and b for his powerset.
His telepathy, shapeshifting and density control is easy to use and mastered to act as a scapel, rather then a sledgehammer.
However, if he bulks up to superman level, he starts drawing on forces enscribed on his dna bringing the true horror from within and can potentially be a justice league buster in that form.
It's like summoning Cthulhu with at least a fighting chance due to the fact he is literally fighting himself from within.
That way it also explains why he's somewhat weaker as a hero and why he's usually meditative and soft spoken most of the time. He's worried about losing control.
Even gave it a title: Martian Tales - Stories to Shock.
He's a lonely lovecraftean horror whom has an overwhelming desire to do good.
That premise could drive stories for decades.
It even comes with a standard format that has been used from everything from the Fugitive, the Pretender to the Littlest Hobo. Heck the Zeta Project might give a base as well.
Here's a base structure.
1. Stranger comes into town tracking and pretends to be just a dude.
2. Stranger is Jonn tracking an unsolved case or mystery. Bonus points if it comes from his own past in some manner.
3. Jonn sets up things so that the punishment fits the crime, taking special care not to try too hard and to spend too much tiime on it, as any # of enemies are nipping at his heels.
4. Jonn berrates evil doer as his trap is sprung.
5. Jonn disappears into a crowd, as if he never existed.
Remember that stupid storyline where Superman went on a road trip.
with Jonn it would actually work.
and you can showcase parts of the dc universe. Themyscira, Atlantis, Gorilla City, even Apokalips would put a spin on the formula.
Now as for a rogue's gallery, it's pretty simple.
1. Cademus: They would be the main chaser as this "unseen monster" would set off Amanda Waller's button's hard. You could create a group of operatives (skilled and metas) who have done their homework and are prepped accordingly.
2. Alien infestations: Characters like the Reach, Intergang, and the Krolotean are one of the reasons he went under the radar. You do him like a boogymen to body snatchers. but shadow wars often cast a bright light.
3. Justice league: Something bad happened that was unforgivable to his former members causing him to go into exile. While the big guns are somewhat ignoring it (Batman is specifically obfuscating), some of the b and c members are particularly butt hurt allowing for hero vs hero battles.
A great foil that would also develop that character as well is Firestorm. He's powerful enough to force Jonn to pull out a ton of tricks and his powerset could kill Jonn. Plus the multiple minds acts as a partial defense against his telepathy.
4. Himself: One of the reasons Jonn Jonez works under the radar is if he ever cuts loose at full power, the madness takes over. If superman sees a world of cardboard, Jonn sees a world of action figures. He has to work to stay humble to avoid becoming one of the greatest threats to the planet.
It not just that. He's kinda callous and lonely. Pull a doctor who and give him a companion that acts as the pov character. They hang around for a story arc and then, he let's them go.
Sometimes he just disappears, leaving them to reflect and potentially grow in their own right
Sometimes he sets them up for a better life,
Sometimes they end tragically.
and in one case, he accidently makes a monster that hates him with everything he/she/it is.
5. At least one fire based character: Let's use that weakness against him.
6. Martian artifacts: One of the reasons he went into exile is a # of items during the 19th century are being unearthed. These items are tainted artifacts that usually result horror story ending for the wielder.
It's relatively easy to take one of these artifacts and build part of his rogues gallery.
7. Tharks: There is a community of Tharks that have been regenetically engineered to survive on our planet and are a tough bunch of goons. They have adapted ancient technology and have become planetary raiders.
Tar Tarkas did too good a job civilizing the Tharks, and they combined their brains and brawns to be a threat big enough to go toe to toe with some of the bigger threats.
and they remember the oppession of the green and then the white martians all too well.
They are a polar opposite of Jonn in that they are not subtle and play up their power for they are afraid to be powerless.
8. Lovecraftean horrors: I would add an element where part of the decline of the martian race was their dealing with stuff that is absolutely alien and incomprehsible. Perhaps the mi-go /martians fought a war thousands of years before both went into decline. Perhaps a shoggot is actually a corrupted martian.
9. White Martians: I would use these sparingly as they are more a capstone, much like Zod is to Superman. But the race that killed Mars continues to live like an infestation.
and give it a face. Even the Daleks have a few members that are distinctive as a face.
****************************
But I kinda like he idea of a little from column a and b for his powerset.
His telepathy, shapeshifting and density control is easy to use and mastered to act as a scapel, rather then a sledgehammer.
However, if he bulks up to superman level, he starts drawing on forces enscribed on his dna bringing the true horror from within and can potentially be a justice league buster in that form.
It's like summoning Cthulhu with at least a fighting chance due to the fact he is literally fighting himself from within.
That way it also explains why he's somewhat weaker as a hero and why he's usually meditative and soft spoken most of the time. He's worried about losing control.
Even gave it a title: Martian Tales - Stories to Shock.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Nonhumanoid AI's and their implications.
I was poring over the twitter one night and hear a single comment from Nash @Nash076 that got me thinking with the following post:
Why are writers always so arrogant as to believe if we create AI, it's going to qualify and quantify its existence as measured by ours?
I responded with the following:
@Nash076 because otherwise we have no gauge to work with.
Until we have an AI, we are speculating and just like alien life, we use us.
Shortly there after, nash posted on his blog
http://nashscribblings.tumblr.com/post/124533552888/human-see-human-do
While not a direct reply, I began to stew on how we can get a more non human perspective while still being empathetic.
so here goes nothing.
1. Tools: star wars has a great AI, in the form of a utility robot: namely r2d2. This plucky droid is a glorified trashcan with pop out tools, but has a ton of personality in spite of being essentially a tool with a specific function
other examples include toys (small soldiers), processing robots (wal-e), and even weapons (johnny 5 of short circuit is always a favourite in this regard)
2. A Face. If a face is blatantly non-human, it still needs a focus point for humans to lock onto. lip lights are common, but also metal flanges that can simulate lips, feet, etc.
3. Vehicles - one of the greatest AIs of all time doesn't come from a humanoid body, but from a car.
I of course am referring to the knight 2000.
It is blatantly non-human, but seems to have a certain degree of autonomy, snarkiness and even is considered a "buddy" to the main character Michael Knight.
hell, a star ship AI is fairly common and might even have an avatar so, if an rpg, the ship's computer can go on adventures as well.
4. Housing: An AI is more likely to be based on a building then a humanoid form. One of my most favourite examples of this is A.R.C.H.I.E. 3 of Rifts fame. he is a housing unit about the size of a toaster that projects his own worries, fears and ambitions by considering the base he is built on as his own body. Furthermore, he has low self esteem and requires an "idea man" to help him project.
Jarvis is another. Jarvis is his butler and nothing more then disembodied voice that attends to most of Tony Stark's requirements. yet he has a human quality that make us weep for him when he's trashed by ultron in avengers 2.
it wouldn't be that hard to re-purpose such an ai as a hospital, manufacturing plant or business office and have it project over the speakers.
4. base it on another life form: an ai based on bread mould is going to come out much differently then one based on the humanoid form. How would such an ai interact with it's environment? How does it get it's energy requirements? How does it repair itself?
How about a pet? Take your pet cat and dog and instead make it a robot. Heck we already have it with furbys.
I'm going to explore these concepts in more details in my upcoming book, Dark Revelations - The Role Playing Game - Book of Progress, but ultimately the question that must be asked is how inhuman can you make an AI before it loses any attachment to the audience?
In 2001, Hal was blatantly a housing AI on a satellite and laid down the primal fear of an ai gone wrong.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's why AI have stayed humanoid more often then not if meant to be a primary character.
how can we make an AI blatantly inhuman, while still being able to play off both the cast and audience?
I'd love to hear your responses.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Is c-3p0 a hero?
edit: going to go for a weekly schedule now.
new posts drop on thursday.
Is c-3p0 a hero?
I'm going to say yes
for starters an opener.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riIOiNq0RHk&t=1s
This theme song says it all.
You have a protocol droid, completely unsuited for combat and exploration put into a situation that are way outside his experience.
In a culture where droids are not even considered people, but devices that are beyond expendable.
He himself is a pacifist and incredibly fragile.
Yet he manages to sacrifice and help out time and time again.
Using his incredible skills (social skills) he manages to move about with his astromech buddy undetected on the death star.
Not only that, but his bluff check got any storm troopers out of the way so r2 could stop the trash compactor.
He also offers to sacrifice his circuitry when r2 was damaged during the death star run.
![[IMG]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ueJajPVm51PfG4T4Q2uJhlP_6iguBZHjw2Oa5xKoqQUrck0b-QM7izep0P35RwXoYuRUctK-49q3DR9wPhVn4coy_STYpYS3pdYeD6_T9yBF1bOtYUM-8xei0Vq22ndF1fpiDrGxmOqCgCPfdv3878DWAbE1cQ=s0-d)
He deserved to be on the podium.
He also showed progression:
in a new hope he said he was no good at telling stories.
but by return of the jedi, his storytelling was crucial in getting "native guides" on the moon on endor to help on the assault on the shield building.
it's because he was finally able to do what he was meant to do...translation.
Ultimately, like all of us, he worked with what he had.
It wasn't much, but his actions saved the star wars universe.
How could that not be considered heroic?
new posts drop on thursday.
Is c-3p0 a hero?
I'm going to say yes
for starters an opener.
This theme song says it all.
You have a protocol droid, completely unsuited for combat and exploration put into a situation that are way outside his experience.
In a culture where droids are not even considered people, but devices that are beyond expendable.
He himself is a pacifist and incredibly fragile.
Yet he manages to sacrifice and help out time and time again.
Using his incredible skills (social skills) he manages to move about with his astromech buddy undetected on the death star.
Not only that, but his bluff check got any storm troopers out of the way so r2 could stop the trash compactor.
He also offers to sacrifice his circuitry when r2 was damaged during the death star run.
He deserved to be on the podium.
He also showed progression:
in a new hope he said he was no good at telling stories.
but by return of the jedi, his storytelling was crucial in getting "native guides" on the moon on endor to help on the assault on the shield building.
it's because he was finally able to do what he was meant to do...translation.
Ultimately, like all of us, he worked with what he had.
It wasn't much, but his actions saved the star wars universe.
How could that not be considered heroic?
I'm going to say yes
for starters an opener.
[media=youtube]GSuexKijT_w[/media]
This theme song says it all.
You
have a protocol droid, completely unsuited for combat and exploration
put into a situation that are way outside his experience.
In a culture where droids are not even considered people, but devices that are beyond expendable.
He himself is a pacifist and incredibly fragile.
Yet he manages to sacrifice and help out time and time again.
Using his incredible skills (social skills) he manages to move about with his astromech buddy undetected on the death star.
Not only that, but his bluff check got any storm troopers out of the way so r2 could stop the trash compactor.
He also offers to sacrifice his circuitry when r2 was damaged during the death star run.
He deserved to be on the podium.
He also showed progression:
in a new hope he said he was no good at telling stories.
but
by return of the jedi, his storytelling was crucial in getting "native
guides" on the moon on endor to help on the assault on the shield
building.
it's because he was finally able to do what he was meant to do...translation.
Ultimately, like all of us, he worked with what he had.
It wasn't much, but his actions saved the star wars universe.
How could that not be considered heroic?
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Rifts rpg - Africa rant
this rant I did quite a while ago and honestly, it led me to one misadventure to another.
now that things have stabilized, I stand by most of it still.
************************
Oh where to begin.
When I first picked up the book, my first response was "wow, great cover." As I read further, I began to notice it was pretty much the best part of the book.
The book was less a world book, as it was a book about the four horsemen of apocalypse and erin tarn's adventures in the world, with a few mediocre pieces of world information tacked on. The horsemen are a great device of destruction, but one thing is needed before you destroy a world. Namely you have to build it up first. If there is no emotional attachment to the characters, culture and continent, no one going to give a flying fudge that they are being destroyed by these powerful creatures, even if the world is at stake.
It would have been better to begin with the people, cultures and civilizations, got the movers and shakers of the continent, make the reader enjoy it. When he realizes that these people have faces, and exist in a way other then a people in a bunch of huts, rubbing their bellies and pointing to a large pot, they become a part of the reader's imagination.
Then when the horseman are summoned, they become victims that we see and understand, and become willing to come from as far away as North America help them.
My second point is a variation on the first. The information presented in the book was very idealistic and sounded like it was presented in the 19th Century instead of the 20th century. Native cultures are presented as primitive, but peaceful people who only use magic against supernatural creatures.
What a bunch of horse manure.
Even today, people who believe in magic can be just as petty as anyone else and may commonly associate with a witch or witch doctor (which, contrary to Kev's beliefs, is not always considered an insult), to put curses or insults on one's enemies (as long as they don't perform them themselves). Furthermore, witchcraft was commonly used as an excuse to ostracized or kill people who went against the rules of the society, even if they had no talent for magic. As for peaceful survivalists, they consist of many cultures that practiced female circumcision, extremely bloody wars (even before whitey showed up), slavery, cannibalism and other disgusting practices.
Peaceful, yeah right.
Then explain to me why the African continent is one of the most war torn areas in the world.
Thirdly, many of the O.C.C.s and R.C.C.s should have been listed in other books and were not specifically African related. For example, the necromancer should have waited till federation of magic and the Mind Bleeder (a really cool R.C.C.) should have been listed in other books. What R.C.C.s that were listed were based on the above assumption that I listed as my second point and were based on primarily Maryann's trip to the Serengeti. But they didn't even list out a generic tribesman warrior template (such as a Masai moran). For the Rainmaker, they saw that they could use air and water spells, but don't specify whether this includes warlock spells. Plus, he failed to play up on many myths and legends after announcing that they consider this place "the coming of the spirits."
Fourthly, the book was extremely limited in new creatures and monsters of the African continent. It felt like a dumping ground for Rifts Conversion.
To be fair, it listed a few monsters, but it was extremely incomplete and should have gone into more detail about its spirits, after hinting at them (and after doing a little research, there are a few).
Fifthly, the Egyptians gods, while cool, could have waited till either Conversions 2 or Dragons and gods to free up space for more world information.
Sixthly, there were missing the experience tables and the tree people stats (which was a real pain in the ass until they finally released the errata on the internet).
Seventhly, as of the 21st century, the continent is extremely war torn and you think its development in the golden age would reflect this.
Which means there should be surplus military machines (even if there are only S.D.C.) waiting around for the taking, even 200 years later. That is if somebody hadn't gotten there first. Plus, even if the tech is down, most of these people would congregate into large population bases, especially if the Phoenix Empire reach isn't nearly as big as they would like (although they are, power wise, the C.S. of Africa).
Eighthly, what would be the incentive of anybody outside the continent going to it, outside of saving the world. Remember, that south Africa has some of the deepest mines in the world and would be an excellent place for an old fashion dungeon
trek.
I think that pretty much sums it up.
now that things have stabilized, I stand by most of it still.
************************
Oh where to begin.
When I first picked up the book, my first response was "wow, great cover." As I read further, I began to notice it was pretty much the best part of the book.
The book was less a world book, as it was a book about the four horsemen of apocalypse and erin tarn's adventures in the world, with a few mediocre pieces of world information tacked on. The horsemen are a great device of destruction, but one thing is needed before you destroy a world. Namely you have to build it up first. If there is no emotional attachment to the characters, culture and continent, no one going to give a flying fudge that they are being destroyed by these powerful creatures, even if the world is at stake.
It would have been better to begin with the people, cultures and civilizations, got the movers and shakers of the continent, make the reader enjoy it. When he realizes that these people have faces, and exist in a way other then a people in a bunch of huts, rubbing their bellies and pointing to a large pot, they become a part of the reader's imagination.
Then when the horseman are summoned, they become victims that we see and understand, and become willing to come from as far away as North America help them.
My second point is a variation on the first. The information presented in the book was very idealistic and sounded like it was presented in the 19th Century instead of the 20th century. Native cultures are presented as primitive, but peaceful people who only use magic against supernatural creatures.
What a bunch of horse manure.
Even today, people who believe in magic can be just as petty as anyone else and may commonly associate with a witch or witch doctor (which, contrary to Kev's beliefs, is not always considered an insult), to put curses or insults on one's enemies (as long as they don't perform them themselves). Furthermore, witchcraft was commonly used as an excuse to ostracized or kill people who went against the rules of the society, even if they had no talent for magic. As for peaceful survivalists, they consist of many cultures that practiced female circumcision, extremely bloody wars (even before whitey showed up), slavery, cannibalism and other disgusting practices.
Peaceful, yeah right.
Then explain to me why the African continent is one of the most war torn areas in the world.
Thirdly, many of the O.C.C.s and R.C.C.s should have been listed in other books and were not specifically African related. For example, the necromancer should have waited till federation of magic and the Mind Bleeder (a really cool R.C.C.) should have been listed in other books. What R.C.C.s that were listed were based on the above assumption that I listed as my second point and were based on primarily Maryann's trip to the Serengeti. But they didn't even list out a generic tribesman warrior template (such as a Masai moran). For the Rainmaker, they saw that they could use air and water spells, but don't specify whether this includes warlock spells. Plus, he failed to play up on many myths and legends after announcing that they consider this place "the coming of the spirits."
Fourthly, the book was extremely limited in new creatures and monsters of the African continent. It felt like a dumping ground for Rifts Conversion.
To be fair, it listed a few monsters, but it was extremely incomplete and should have gone into more detail about its spirits, after hinting at them (and after doing a little research, there are a few).
Fifthly, the Egyptians gods, while cool, could have waited till either Conversions 2 or Dragons and gods to free up space for more world information.
Sixthly, there were missing the experience tables and the tree people stats (which was a real pain in the ass until they finally released the errata on the internet).
Seventhly, as of the 21st century, the continent is extremely war torn and you think its development in the golden age would reflect this.
Which means there should be surplus military machines (even if there are only S.D.C.) waiting around for the taking, even 200 years later. That is if somebody hadn't gotten there first. Plus, even if the tech is down, most of these people would congregate into large population bases, especially if the Phoenix Empire reach isn't nearly as big as they would like (although they are, power wise, the C.S. of Africa).
Eighthly, what would be the incentive of anybody outside the continent going to it, outside of saving the world. Remember, that south Africa has some of the deepest mines in the world and would be an excellent place for an old fashion dungeon
trek.
I think that pretty much sums it up.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Dungeons and Dragons - About Hobgoblins
I was a serious fanboy of hobgoblins a while back, so I'll throw the text here for your entertainment
**************************
One of the greatest ironies of the Hobgoblin race is in spite of their discipline, organization and martial skills, they are usually never one of the great powers of where they occupy.
This is for several reasons.
1. Lack of Economic Base: Hobgoblins are warriors, not farmers. Even their tradesman and merchants are designed to feed the hobgoblin war machine. This causes their economy to be very specialized and unsuitable for large scale trade. This lack of income often forces them to have less money to work with.
2. Culling of their own members: While Hobgoblins, unlike orcs, usually love their children, they are also ruthless in their upbringing in order to ensure they are strong. They are inspected at birth for any physical or mental deficiencies. If they are discovered to have any, they are killed. Then after 6 years, they are then brought into compounds where they are raised in the ways of war. As a result, child mortality rates are fairly high.
3. Use of war as an income: While the spoils of war are excellent for a particular group, they are not suitable for long term growth. Besides the obvious loss of personal and equipment in a lost war, hobgoblins find it difficult to adjust after they have conquered a particular area. While a strong chieftain can often implement a fairly effective system of control, conquered territory is usually used to produce material and equipment for the next war.
However most Hobgoblin are smart and organized enough to compensate for this with the use of slave labor. They often keep races that can produce goods so they don't have to. below are some of the most common races.
Goblins: These smaller brothers are often used as grunt labor and as cannon fodder. However, they have had problems with the fast due to one particular factor: they breed quickly. During peacetime and/or less then harsh conditions, the goblin population may grow to the point where the hobgoblins are themselves heavily outnumbered.
Humans: Humans are quite common in slave labor. They seem to be fairly balenced and often used for specialist skills. Furthermore their quality is better then many other would be slaves.
Wolves: While nowhere near as skilled as their smaller cousins. Hobgoblins respect and often revere wolves. They often have one in their household trained as a "war/hunting animal". Often as a right of passage a young hobgoblin must take down a wolf on his own. They are often incorporated in the hobgoblin war machine for tracking.
Kobold: They see this race as piggy banks that they will use to finance their campaigns.
*****************************
I would think that the roles of men and women in hobgoblin society would follow a pattern similar to the samurai cast of japan.
both men and women are trained in warfare.
The men commit raids and provide the "offence" in large scale conflicts.
The women defend their village/fortress/living space, and operate any siege machines and/or direct construction work. The men usually do the grunt work for such projects though.
By some extrapolations, females may be more likely to seek divine and/or arcane training.
the society is a meritocracy. Namely, the best get ahead.
Hobgoblin Slang "Cheat Sheet"
Amongst other talents, Hobgoblin's are undisputed masters of the outraged rants. Below are some of the more noteworthy insults and slang.
Note: the following is based on the goblin language article, but I had to fudge a few things.
Ban Raat (yeah story) - lies
chibkhesh (Big blade) - somebody who thinks he's high and mighty, narcisist.
gaa'rhu (skilled baby) - a rookie.
gaa'taat - Idiot
gaa'volaar (baby words) - "Shut up!"
gath'atcha - Uncultured beast
golin'taat - sneaky midget.
Maabet!: An extremely ancient Goblin curse word still in use today. There is no known translation.
shaat'ma (sweet wax) - a term for excrement.
Tactical Words
these words are able to help in the battlefield to quickly identify what they are up against and give tactical maneuvers quickly.
Duur'dar (dirge people) - undead.
Gan'Vus (eater of flames) - Devils
golin'gaa (quick baby) - enemy moves quickly. setup spears to receive a charge
guul'ma (strong wax) - incoming! get under cover
Khaar'Gan (Blood eater) - the creature feeds on life energy or blood.
marhu'dar (emperor people) - Dragons
Mur'aram (Horned anger) - Demons
Paal'gaa (spell baby) - the creature can only be hurt by magic
Shaarat'Dar (Sword people) - constructs
shaat'ma (excrement)- The creature is insubstantial or can go through walls.
shaat'ma'atchot (Excrement gaze) - gaze attack, don't make eye contact
Banroo: (yeah stranger) - "the place we are in is filled with enemies. Say nothing. Grab your weapons. Meet me at the front door."
tohii****aa! (beware, attack) - "As above, but "The game is up; fight your way out."
**************************
One of the greatest ironies of the Hobgoblin race is in spite of their discipline, organization and martial skills, they are usually never one of the great powers of where they occupy.
This is for several reasons.
1. Lack of Economic Base: Hobgoblins are warriors, not farmers. Even their tradesman and merchants are designed to feed the hobgoblin war machine. This causes their economy to be very specialized and unsuitable for large scale trade. This lack of income often forces them to have less money to work with.
2. Culling of their own members: While Hobgoblins, unlike orcs, usually love their children, they are also ruthless in their upbringing in order to ensure they are strong. They are inspected at birth for any physical or mental deficiencies. If they are discovered to have any, they are killed. Then after 6 years, they are then brought into compounds where they are raised in the ways of war. As a result, child mortality rates are fairly high.
3. Use of war as an income: While the spoils of war are excellent for a particular group, they are not suitable for long term growth. Besides the obvious loss of personal and equipment in a lost war, hobgoblins find it difficult to adjust after they have conquered a particular area. While a strong chieftain can often implement a fairly effective system of control, conquered territory is usually used to produce material and equipment for the next war.
However most Hobgoblin are smart and organized enough to compensate for this with the use of slave labor. They often keep races that can produce goods so they don't have to. below are some of the most common races.
Goblins: These smaller brothers are often used as grunt labor and as cannon fodder. However, they have had problems with the fast due to one particular factor: they breed quickly. During peacetime and/or less then harsh conditions, the goblin population may grow to the point where the hobgoblins are themselves heavily outnumbered.
Humans: Humans are quite common in slave labor. They seem to be fairly balenced and often used for specialist skills. Furthermore their quality is better then many other would be slaves.
Wolves: While nowhere near as skilled as their smaller cousins. Hobgoblins respect and often revere wolves. They often have one in their household trained as a "war/hunting animal". Often as a right of passage a young hobgoblin must take down a wolf on his own. They are often incorporated in the hobgoblin war machine for tracking.
Kobold: They see this race as piggy banks that they will use to finance their campaigns.
*****************************
I would think that the roles of men and women in hobgoblin society would follow a pattern similar to the samurai cast of japan.
both men and women are trained in warfare.
The men commit raids and provide the "offence" in large scale conflicts.
The women defend their village/fortress/living space, and operate any siege machines and/or direct construction work. The men usually do the grunt work for such projects though.
By some extrapolations, females may be more likely to seek divine and/or arcane training.
the society is a meritocracy. Namely, the best get ahead.
Hobgoblin Slang "Cheat Sheet"
Amongst other talents, Hobgoblin's are undisputed masters of the outraged rants. Below are some of the more noteworthy insults and slang.
Note: the following is based on the goblin language article, but I had to fudge a few things.
Ban Raat (yeah story) - lies
chibkhesh (Big blade) - somebody who thinks he's high and mighty, narcisist.
gaa'rhu (skilled baby) - a rookie.
gaa'taat - Idiot
gaa'volaar (baby words) - "Shut up!"
gath'atcha - Uncultured beast
golin'taat - sneaky midget.
Maabet!: An extremely ancient Goblin curse word still in use today. There is no known translation.
shaat'ma (sweet wax) - a term for excrement.
Tactical Words
these words are able to help in the battlefield to quickly identify what they are up against and give tactical maneuvers quickly.
Duur'dar (dirge people) - undead.
Gan'Vus (eater of flames) - Devils
golin'gaa (quick baby) - enemy moves quickly. setup spears to receive a charge
guul'ma (strong wax) - incoming! get under cover
Khaar'Gan (Blood eater) - the creature feeds on life energy or blood.
marhu'dar (emperor people) - Dragons
Mur'aram (Horned anger) - Demons
Paal'gaa (spell baby) - the creature can only be hurt by magic
Shaarat'Dar (Sword people) - constructs
shaat'ma (excrement)- The creature is insubstantial or can go through walls.
shaat'ma'atchot (Excrement gaze) - gaze attack, don't make eye contact
Banroo: (yeah stranger) - "the place we are in is filled with enemies. Say nothing. Grab your weapons. Meet me at the front door."
tohii****aa! (beware, attack) - "As above, but "The game is up; fight your way out."
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Wonder Woman - Some Thoughts - Part 3
The main reason I posted this again is to see what I can learn from dialogue.
I wrote this a while ago and a few of my opinions have changed.
1. I still think WW has a Pygmailian aspect, otherwise Genocide would make no sense as a character.
However, I doubt any stories could be told because of both fan backlash and/or writers using it to devalue her as a character, rather then opening up new options.
For what it's worth, I consider Adam and Eve to be in the same category, for the exact same reason and will leave it at that to avoid going off tangent.
2. Originally the Fausta referred to a another character. Maybe somebody who is more familiar with the WW franchise can recommend a female nazi like character who better fits a similar motif?
3. Empowerment is an interesting concept, but I'm actually interested in how you could use it.
I'll be blunt, I am not sure how I would use it myself.
a. Empowerment is a term usually referred to as female empowerment, and that can often alienate your male demographic.
b. Empowerment takes away focus from the main character. By giving to others in such a comic situation, it might sideline the character.
This is something I don't want to do for a flagship character
I can however twist it to reflect back to my original thesis, The truth will empower, and could use it for storytelling.
I can also revise it and twist it to the following cribbed heavily from mainframe entertainment.
"You have taken a hopeless cause and giving us a fighting chance."
That I can see.
I am sure somebody can figure that out and I would like to hear any and all options. :)
4. Even though Comic storytelling has gotten a lot more complex, it still has at it's base a simple conflict of good guy vs bad guy and having a warrior aspect really helps focus it.
It makes things easier for the purposes of storytelling and there is a lot of past material that can show it can be used. It also helps simplify the storytelling to make it easier to get behind.
It was the one thing I really liked when they did the WW animated movie :).
5. The military aspect was basically to offset something that really bugs me about how she's often presented as a greek bumpkin in a lot of stories, which, in my opinion, devalues her character.
Since a lot of precrisis stories had her working with the military and her character as a secret agent, it gives any potential writer another tool in their arsenal.
6. When I say general, I don't necessarily mean that she's hiding on the back lines. I would see her more of a "alexander the great" type general, in the thick of things and pointing things out to her allies, and barking the occasional order.
7. The last thing I need to mention is the wonder woman pilot dubbed "pants to be darkened." In many ways it's almost like they took my ideas and twisted them to be grim dark and then mixed it with touches of a bad chick flick.
One thing wonder woman should never be is psychotic. :eek:
Heck, another good use of her is as envoy.
Use her to bring a spotlight to the DC universe and act as a observer to ensure things run according to U.N. mandate.
I wrote this a while ago and a few of my opinions have changed.
1. I still think WW has a Pygmailian aspect, otherwise Genocide would make no sense as a character.
However, I doubt any stories could be told because of both fan backlash and/or writers using it to devalue her as a character, rather then opening up new options.
For what it's worth, I consider Adam and Eve to be in the same category, for the exact same reason and will leave it at that to avoid going off tangent.
2. Originally the Fausta referred to a another character. Maybe somebody who is more familiar with the WW franchise can recommend a female nazi like character who better fits a similar motif?
3. Empowerment is an interesting concept, but I'm actually interested in how you could use it.
I'll be blunt, I am not sure how I would use it myself.
a. Empowerment is a term usually referred to as female empowerment, and that can often alienate your male demographic.
b. Empowerment takes away focus from the main character. By giving to others in such a comic situation, it might sideline the character.
This is something I don't want to do for a flagship character
I can however twist it to reflect back to my original thesis, The truth will empower, and could use it for storytelling.
I can also revise it and twist it to the following cribbed heavily from mainframe entertainment.
"You have taken a hopeless cause and giving us a fighting chance."
That I can see.
I am sure somebody can figure that out and I would like to hear any and all options. :)
4. Even though Comic storytelling has gotten a lot more complex, it still has at it's base a simple conflict of good guy vs bad guy and having a warrior aspect really helps focus it.
It makes things easier for the purposes of storytelling and there is a lot of past material that can show it can be used. It also helps simplify the storytelling to make it easier to get behind.
It was the one thing I really liked when they did the WW animated movie :).
5. The military aspect was basically to offset something that really bugs me about how she's often presented as a greek bumpkin in a lot of stories, which, in my opinion, devalues her character.
Since a lot of precrisis stories had her working with the military and her character as a secret agent, it gives any potential writer another tool in their arsenal.
6. When I say general, I don't necessarily mean that she's hiding on the back lines. I would see her more of a "alexander the great" type general, in the thick of things and pointing things out to her allies, and barking the occasional order.
7. The last thing I need to mention is the wonder woman pilot dubbed "pants to be darkened." In many ways it's almost like they took my ideas and twisted them to be grim dark and then mixed it with touches of a bad chick flick.
One thing wonder woman should never be is psychotic. :eek:
Heck, another good use of her is as envoy.
Use her to bring a spotlight to the DC universe and act as a observer to ensure things run according to U.N. mandate.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Wonder Woman - Some Thoughts - Part 2
themes and settings:
Truth: If a character can be summoned up with a single word, it's best to explore all possibilities of it. here are some rudimentary themes.
1. The truth hurts
2. The truth is ugly
3. People often prefer a beautiful lie over the ugly truth.
4. The truth will set you free.
here's a whole list of proverbs that can be adapted into story themes
http://www.parrotsmeow.com/IQ/QP5.htm
Culture shock: While this has been both done to death and often badly, it still remains a component of the character. Fish out of water scenerios are fun, but if the character is suppposed to be a harden warrior, they have to be used sparingly.
Golem: This is a theme that really seems unexplored in the wonder woman genre. While a real person and raised in a loving community, the fact remains the character is essentially a golem, pygmalion, or simulcrium. This opens up a wide range of themes of whether wonder woman can even be considered human at all. Even if it was the magic of the gods, there might be ways to revert her to a more frankenstein form, with a bit of a touch up, that opens up a wide range of storytelling possibilities.
Mythic: Wonderwoman is based on greek mythology and exploring this world can be a huge source of interesting ideas and possibilities. Furthermore, there are a number of modern adaptions that can be cribbed.
War: If the woman is a warrior, then war must be used as a common theme. Both her attitude of war and the fact she's really good at it. I expect her to be reading books like art of war, five rings, and on war and adapting these to four color tactics. This something that is best shown rather then told.
One of the few things I liked of her precrisis storytelling is she often had adventurers involving the us military. Ironically, this opens up the ability to steal plot ideas from other military influenced metahumans (ex hulk). This also shows how times have changed when contrast with her original classical military training.
Finally, I want to base her military style to some degree on a great american general: General macarthur. Should she feel equally as iconic as she steps out of her jet rallying the troops.
Woman: The character is a woman and it's been her sole defining characteristic. While I would reduce it's importance when compared to other themes, it still needs to be used as a means of telling a story, and can often give it a different perspective then their male counterpart.
Finally, we come to the other theme of wonderman: namely Cheesecake. We won't be able to eliminate this as a theme and it has to be used as a marketing tactic, we should strive to use it as merely a component, cause if it is not used properly, it will reduce the ability to tell stories with the character.
Ageless: The fact is Wonderwoman is essentially immortal. Even though she is comparatively young, it adds a whole new dimension for storytelling. Crib off the old highlander series for storylines to best explore this angle.
Amazon: I also hope they have her keep standing on her diamond hard, Amazonian foundation. I like the greek/amazonian aspect of the character a lot and a little mixing of greek culture into the character is always fun.
*******************************************************
The Transition:
With Gail Simone passing the torch to JMS, I hope JMS goes the work she is writing and builds on it.
Achilles and the Circle are good concepts that should be built on to give a stronger rogues gallery.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Wonder Woman - Some Thoughts - Part 1
While I don't believe any golem aspect will work now, reposting this here, warts and all.
************************************************** *******************
I wrote this a while back and have updated it a bit.
It seemed appropriate to bring it out now that we have a changing of the guard.
************************************************** ***
to be honest, it was linkara of the guys with the glasses.com, in preparing for his acidic review of amazon attacks that really opened my eyes to the character.
http://channelawesome.com/at4w-amazons-attack-prologue/
He summed up the character in a single word: Truth, and that gives tons of potential for story telling alone.
Now combine with the greek/amazon background plus inspirations from both 300 and the god of war video games, and you got a ton of storytelling potental.
and I think one of the biggest problems is ww role with the dc trinity.
Superman's role is the flag bearer and spear point. You throw him at the biggest scarriest thing out there, and he emerges victorous. Plus he is the inspiration for eveybody else to keep fighting.
Batman is the special ops master. He's the one with his breath of knowledge, skills and training should be a nightmare for anybody, especially when the following words are used: Prep time. All the more impressive cause he is a "normal human".
Wonderwoman should be the general. Trained in multiple forms of fighting and with real time experience in modern military tactics, and a millenia of experience, she should be the one in charge of large scale tactics. She should be shouting out orders to her companions to best utilize their capabilities to defeat their targets.
While superman would fight darkseid, Wonder woman should be arranging it so that the parademons are going through hell and even take out any other key leaders with a ruthless and brilliant efficency.
I really liked the timverses version as a bit of a hardass, and combined with her powerset and better tactical skills, would make her one of the focal points and as much a flagship as supes and bats.
****************************************
As for rogues gallery, I think it was villians unlimited/secret six really showed me how to repackage a villian to be effective again. She also has a few mainstays that seem to be pretty effective.
here's her list
I'll even bring up a few particularly noteworthy. with some repackaging.
Ares: When you have a god in your rogues gallery, it adds a real mythic feel to the character base. God of War and Xena gives you tons to crib from and mix with the wonder woman mythos. Just have Ares put Ww through the same hell that hera put hercules through and you got an epic. Even if she can't fight him directly (which she can), as a big bad behind the scenes he is magnificant.
Circes: This is WW's version of the enchantress. Based loosly off yet another character of myth, the ability to turn other people into critters can easily be retranslated into monsters thus giving ww New opponents to throw against. plus it's an easy in to add new character's to ww rogues gallery and life in general. plus the illusion spells means ww needs to use her head, not her fists. Finally symbolically, she is the opposite of ww: lies when compared to truth. plus the fact she's the underdog could give her a real victor von doom feel in their battles....she preps to even the footing.
Dr. Psycho: If their is any character that I had underestimated before villians unlimited, it is dr psycho. This repulsive little man is one of the most powerful psychics in the dc universe. His morbid one liners were a hoot and and represents yet another polar opposite. Even if she win's against him, the readers should feel a little dirty, much like mold behind the walls. Add back his ectoplasmic generation pre crisis powers and it gives him yet another tool to make ww's life miserable.
Cheetah: Probably the most visually remembered of ww's characters. you take a person who was just a little greedy and give her powers that, physically, she could rival wonder woman. Make her concentrate on hit and run tactics against wonderwoman. Make her mutate with divine energy over time. To be honest, the plant god he's bound to, seems kinda lame, but if it's given a lovecraftean makeover, could ad yet another facet to the character.
Fausta: Nazi's are great villians. The use of a "castle wolfenstein" feel with wunderweapons and dark teutonic magic should give endless possibilities to make people miserable. And if you really want to rub it in, point out that wonder woman is a Übermensch and use that word as a weapon as much as anything else. Change her costume from the witch look to paramilitary geer. Use her like what happens when you cross ilsa she wolf of the SS with the Red Skull and you could have a blast.
Giganta: Thanks to the timverse, we have a good grasp on the character's powerset and personality. While she'll never be a big bad, she's a fun mook to use with other more dangerous characters.
Genocide: While the appearance of the character is kinda bad, the concept is sound. It brings up something that we often put on the side line: Technically WW is a golem or Pygmailion, and the character reflects a killing machine made in her image.
Maxima: I've always liked this character and her original use in superman only scratched the surface of what you can do with it. We got a haughty alien queen who, while not evil per say, can be a really nasty foil for wonderwoman, especially if she has worked with her in the past. She could be played as wonder woman's black adam and setup a "300 type story arc on an alien world with her. Plus she has a powerset that makes her a threat if you want to do a slobber knocker.
Although she is dead, when has that ever stopped the writers
.
Dr. Cyber: I really like the idea of one of the greatest minds of the DC universe being a woman, and her look is brilliant. Plus she is a great contrast (brains vs power) that could be used with WW as a theme.
Weapons and equipment:
Wonder woman's equipment is probably where the character stops short the most. It's hard to take a character seriously as a general, when she is effectively wearing a colorful swimsuit into battle. Plus the lasso and invisible jet seems to both be relics of a bygone age to some degree. However, with a little repackaging it could really work.
Costume:
traditional: The ww swimsuit is iconic, but also the biggest limiting factor on the character's development. A warrior should be wearing armor. One of the things I did like about the timverse version is that it did include a breastplate made by Hephaestus.
While the design probably cannot be deviated too much, but it should look more like armor then a swim suit. Give it more of a classical greek design and make it awesome. It should be one of the main reasons why ww can take a punch from supes.
Alt costume: If she is going to be the soldier of the team, one of her alternative costumes should be good old fashion military fatigues. plus it deals with the facet of her involvement in the us military.
Now that their are many women in the armed forces, it's been joked that the tank top and military pants is the new chainmail bikini: we might as well use this.
The Lasso: While a lasso can be a darm effective weapon and it's natural power does make it very useful: it does feel like a "cowboys and bondage" motif that takes away from the character. However, it is too iconic to remove from the character. The best solution is how it is used. Anybody whose ever done the old dungeon hack knows how useful 50' of coiled rope can be. show her using it in an effective manner. plus don't be afraid to use it to choke an opponent, al la hangman's noose.
The invisible jet: This is just plain wierd. I think we all remember superfriends and the dotted lines that were the so called jet, yet ww is still seen. In order to be useable it needs to have a function that makes it useful. Additionally, it needs to be iconic in it's own right.
I see any jet acting as a personal transport and weapons platform as well as a means to infiltrate a place in and out. I would redesign it to look somewhat like the f117 stealth bomber, but give it a greeko roman feel with a touch of the american air force. When it goes invisibile, it should go totally invisible, with maybe a invisible haze, must like the stealth modes of section 9 from gitsac. Finally, I would give it a ton of weapons and sensors to easily give a wide range of options.
The vambraces are one of the pieces of equipment that just plain old kicks ass. It's the one pieces of equipment I wouldn't change, cause they are both iconic and useful.
Not a fan of the tierra, but seeing as it's a backup weapon, it is useful and also iconic.
If their is one piece of equipment that needs to be carried more, it is her sword. It's easily sheathed and pulled out when she needs to go hand to hand. plus it really can act as an extension of herself and it shows that this is a warrior, not a bondage queen.
The final piece of equipment might be a tad contraversal but hear me out. I would give her a more modern piece of equipment that gives her a ranged attack. I was thinking of an energy blaster pistol of some sort that has a stun setting as well as a nuke setting. It shows that she is not only adapting to modern times, it also keeps her options opened.
Lightning: I really like this addition to her powerset. It gives ww a ranged weapon that shows that she really is a child of the greek gods. It also reduces the need for a ranged energy pistol.
************************************************** *******************
I wrote this a while back and have updated it a bit.
It seemed appropriate to bring it out now that we have a changing of the guard.
************************************************** ***
to be honest, it was linkara of the guys with the glasses.com, in preparing for his acidic review of amazon attacks that really opened my eyes to the character.
http://channelawesome.com/at4w-amazons-attack-prologue/
He summed up the character in a single word: Truth, and that gives tons of potential for story telling alone.
Now combine with the greek/amazon background plus inspirations from both 300 and the god of war video games, and you got a ton of storytelling potental.
and I think one of the biggest problems is ww role with the dc trinity.
Superman's role is the flag bearer and spear point. You throw him at the biggest scarriest thing out there, and he emerges victorous. Plus he is the inspiration for eveybody else to keep fighting.
Batman is the special ops master. He's the one with his breath of knowledge, skills and training should be a nightmare for anybody, especially when the following words are used: Prep time. All the more impressive cause he is a "normal human".
Wonderwoman should be the general. Trained in multiple forms of fighting and with real time experience in modern military tactics, and a millenia of experience, she should be the one in charge of large scale tactics. She should be shouting out orders to her companions to best utilize their capabilities to defeat their targets.
While superman would fight darkseid, Wonder woman should be arranging it so that the parademons are going through hell and even take out any other key leaders with a ruthless and brilliant efficency.
I really liked the timverses version as a bit of a hardass, and combined with her powerset and better tactical skills, would make her one of the focal points and as much a flagship as supes and bats.
****************************************
As for rogues gallery, I think it was villians unlimited/secret six really showed me how to repackage a villian to be effective again. She also has a few mainstays that seem to be pretty effective.
here's her list
I'll even bring up a few particularly noteworthy. with some repackaging.
Ares: When you have a god in your rogues gallery, it adds a real mythic feel to the character base. God of War and Xena gives you tons to crib from and mix with the wonder woman mythos. Just have Ares put Ww through the same hell that hera put hercules through and you got an epic. Even if she can't fight him directly (which she can), as a big bad behind the scenes he is magnificant.
Circes: This is WW's version of the enchantress. Based loosly off yet another character of myth, the ability to turn other people into critters can easily be retranslated into monsters thus giving ww New opponents to throw against. plus it's an easy in to add new character's to ww rogues gallery and life in general. plus the illusion spells means ww needs to use her head, not her fists. Finally symbolically, she is the opposite of ww: lies when compared to truth. plus the fact she's the underdog could give her a real victor von doom feel in their battles....she preps to even the footing.
Dr. Psycho: If their is any character that I had underestimated before villians unlimited, it is dr psycho. This repulsive little man is one of the most powerful psychics in the dc universe. His morbid one liners were a hoot and and represents yet another polar opposite. Even if she win's against him, the readers should feel a little dirty, much like mold behind the walls. Add back his ectoplasmic generation pre crisis powers and it gives him yet another tool to make ww's life miserable.
Cheetah: Probably the most visually remembered of ww's characters. you take a person who was just a little greedy and give her powers that, physically, she could rival wonder woman. Make her concentrate on hit and run tactics against wonderwoman. Make her mutate with divine energy over time. To be honest, the plant god he's bound to, seems kinda lame, but if it's given a lovecraftean makeover, could ad yet another facet to the character.
Fausta: Nazi's are great villians. The use of a "castle wolfenstein" feel with wunderweapons and dark teutonic magic should give endless possibilities to make people miserable. And if you really want to rub it in, point out that wonder woman is a Übermensch and use that word as a weapon as much as anything else. Change her costume from the witch look to paramilitary geer. Use her like what happens when you cross ilsa she wolf of the SS with the Red Skull and you could have a blast.
Giganta: Thanks to the timverse, we have a good grasp on the character's powerset and personality. While she'll never be a big bad, she's a fun mook to use with other more dangerous characters.
Genocide: While the appearance of the character is kinda bad, the concept is sound. It brings up something that we often put on the side line: Technically WW is a golem or Pygmailion, and the character reflects a killing machine made in her image.
Maxima: I've always liked this character and her original use in superman only scratched the surface of what you can do with it. We got a haughty alien queen who, while not evil per say, can be a really nasty foil for wonderwoman, especially if she has worked with her in the past. She could be played as wonder woman's black adam and setup a "300 type story arc on an alien world with her. Plus she has a powerset that makes her a threat if you want to do a slobber knocker.
Although she is dead, when has that ever stopped the writers
.Dr. Cyber: I really like the idea of one of the greatest minds of the DC universe being a woman, and her look is brilliant. Plus she is a great contrast (brains vs power) that could be used with WW as a theme.
Weapons and equipment:
Wonder woman's equipment is probably where the character stops short the most. It's hard to take a character seriously as a general, when she is effectively wearing a colorful swimsuit into battle. Plus the lasso and invisible jet seems to both be relics of a bygone age to some degree. However, with a little repackaging it could really work.
Costume:
traditional: The ww swimsuit is iconic, but also the biggest limiting factor on the character's development. A warrior should be wearing armor. One of the things I did like about the timverse version is that it did include a breastplate made by Hephaestus.
While the design probably cannot be deviated too much, but it should look more like armor then a swim suit. Give it more of a classical greek design and make it awesome. It should be one of the main reasons why ww can take a punch from supes.
Alt costume: If she is going to be the soldier of the team, one of her alternative costumes should be good old fashion military fatigues. plus it deals with the facet of her involvement in the us military.
Now that their are many women in the armed forces, it's been joked that the tank top and military pants is the new chainmail bikini: we might as well use this
. The Lasso: While a lasso can be a darm effective weapon and it's natural power does make it very useful: it does feel like a "cowboys and bondage" motif that takes away from the character. However, it is too iconic to remove from the character. The best solution is how it is used. Anybody whose ever done the old dungeon hack knows how useful 50' of coiled rope can be. show her using it in an effective manner. plus don't be afraid to use it to choke an opponent, al la hangman's noose.
The invisible jet: This is just plain wierd. I think we all remember superfriends and the dotted lines that were the so called jet, yet ww is still seen. In order to be useable it needs to have a function that makes it useful. Additionally, it needs to be iconic in it's own right.
I see any jet acting as a personal transport and weapons platform as well as a means to infiltrate a place in and out. I would redesign it to look somewhat like the f117 stealth bomber, but give it a greeko roman feel with a touch of the american air force. When it goes invisibile, it should go totally invisible, with maybe a invisible haze, must like the stealth modes of section 9 from gitsac. Finally, I would give it a ton of weapons and sensors to easily give a wide range of options.
The vambraces are one of the pieces of equipment that just plain old kicks ass. It's the one pieces of equipment I wouldn't change, cause they are both iconic and useful.
Not a fan of the tierra, but seeing as it's a backup weapon, it is useful and also iconic.
If their is one piece of equipment that needs to be carried more, it is her sword. It's easily sheathed and pulled out when she needs to go hand to hand. plus it really can act as an extension of herself and it shows that this is a warrior, not a bondage queen.
The final piece of equipment might be a tad contraversal but hear me out. I would give her a more modern piece of equipment that gives her a ranged attack. I was thinking of an energy blaster pistol of some sort that has a stun setting as well as a nuke setting. It shows that she is not only adapting to modern times, it also keeps her options opened.
Lightning: I really like this addition to her powerset. It gives ww a ranged weapon that shows that she really is a child of the greek gods. It also reduces the need for a ranged energy pistol.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Rob-prepping – Surviving a Fantasy Kingdom - Part 3
Specific
If there is any popular media on the subject, read and analyze them well.Key points to be aware of:
Movers and Shakers: Know their appearance, actions as per the book/movie/tv, and how they would most likely respond if/when the story goes “off script”
1.First meetings?
2.How well they accept gifts?
3.How well protected are they?
4.Vices and virtues.
5.Secrets.
Maps: If there are any maps of the kingdom, even if they are vague, try to memorize them. Also include any floor plans that may be published and any secret doors. You may never need them, but it’s a good place to go.
Magic: While it is generally not recommended to actually learn it, it’s good to understand the magic system and how it’s used. Also any rudimentary safeguards are a good idea.
Be aware of
·Line of sight
·Range
·Items of note
·Curses
·Gods and their “influence.”
Team Work
There is power in numbers and a wise prepper uses his resources. If you can go into with allies, you will do better and might be able to pull off some neat stuff.
If possible, try to be very similar in height and weight. Not only will it make it easier to get “lost in a crowd”, but it will make it easier to share equipment that you find.
Trust is necessary before being transported to someplace where life and death hangs in the balance. Do team building exercises. The easiest place to start is camping. It allows you to get an idea of your survival skills, gives your ideas on how to delegate based on your individual talents, and allows you to figure out your weaknesses before you start.
It is also a good idea to visit historical sites to get an idea of how it was in the real world. Better to shatter your expectations before you end up in peril.
Communications is key. If possible, everybody should learn morse code. It’s simple, easy to use, and can be used deceptively in music.
That’s enough for now.
Feel free to add suggestions and feedback, as well as must reads for prepwork.