Post by gregor on Apr 1, 2007 16:52:18 GMT -5
Browsing around this site, I have seen many different ideas for plots and settings, but seemingly no one has mentioned the Ultimate Marvel universe. I realize that the MURPG was designed with the standard universe (616) in mind - in which the recent Civil War gave plenty of RP opportunity - but what about the Ultimate Marvel Universe (1610)?
(Is there some reason that no one tends to mention this newer reinvisioning of the Marvel stories? If there is some taboo, please tell me now and I will stop talking.)
Otherwise, I would consider the Ultimate Universe to be an interesting place for an RPG. With the (slightly) more realistic tone and a much more simplified histories, it would be an interesting place to play.
At first I had considered a story which utilized a "backup" or "secondary" team of the Ultimates (which I tenatively named "the Vanguard"). This team would be formed post-Ultimate Extinction and include Captian Mahr Vehl, Warbird (Carol Danvers grafted with a suit built by Tony Stark from his reverse-engineering of Mahr Vehl), US Agent (a "backup" for Captain America), Spider-Woman, etc. However, this idea was slightly unsettling to me for a variety of reasons:
1) there already is one team of Ultimates, and this secondary team would fill basically the same purpose,
2) the first team of Ultimates can barely justify their own funding, and
3) introducing another group of governmentally-sponsored superheroes would take away from the Ultimates' popularity, which is very important.
Then I read about Daredevil forming his own group of "Knights" to combat the Kingpin in New York City. This idea has several advantages, not all of which are immediately apparent:
1) these "Knights" would be the anti-Ultimates in the sense that they are simply working-class people who also fight crime. They are not professional heroes, and indeed they are not compensated at all for their work. They also keep their identities a secret as incognito vigilanties, unlike the Ultimates who actively seek popular approval and positive public opinion. While the Ultimates deal with issues of national or international importance, the Knights focus on problems local to their home, New York City. Lastly, as well-funded as the Ultimates are, the Knights have no funding beyond their own personal wealth (which, because they are all working-class, is not that great).
2) the Knights would be (for the most part) stand-alone characters instead of backup members of a team. This is more appealing as a player as follows: it is more exciting to play as Cloak and Dagger or Luke Cage than as some third-string member of the Avengers who is relatively weak.
3) being that the members keep their "day jobs", it is easy for them to gain information and keep an ear to the streets, which feeds back into the idea of dealing with local problems instead of national catastrophies.
4) in some sense the scale is far smaller for the Knights - they do not battle epic villians in a struggle to save the human race, but instead must battle in the streets and alleyways of NYC to try and forge a better, more secure life for its inhabitants. In this vein, it is possible for a seemingly insignificant event to be a huge hinderance to the Knights - a single traffic jam may leave a member stranded without a chance to change persona while his fellow teammates are at the mercy of a villain. (This example is taken from the Defenders).
Now to discuss who should be on the team. Firstoff, let me say that not all of these characters (currently) exist in 1610, and of those that do I have altered the details of their stories somewhat to fit the theme more. Listed next to each character is their real name and occupation, as well as any other notes I have made. These are the characters that I had thought about, but I am open to suggestion for other characters or changes to these characters.
Daredevil (Matt Murdock, lawyer) - Organizer and leader. Familar backstory as always.
Echo (Maya Lopez, maid) - Currently does not exist in 1610, but is slated to become active. I have tenatively given her the occupation of maid to fit the feel of the Knights, but that is subject to change. Her "power" is naturally occuring but is not a mutation.
Luke Cage (Carl Lucas, longshoreman) - He seems to be the embodiment of the Knight's philosophy of a citizen/hero. He does not exist in the 1610, so I have to come up with a backstory. I was thinking he could be a longshoreman who accidentally spilled a large canister of chemics (which was destined for Oscorp) on himself, but this seems incredibly lame as it is virtually idential to Daredevil's source of power.
Moon Knight (Marc Spector, cab driver) - Similar to his 616 incarnation, except for his real identity. For the 1610, I have him with only one alternate identity - the cab driver Marc Spector. (I realize this smashes together two of his 616 identities, but hey - it's my world.) He has no "powers" per se, but relies on physical training and gadgets, many of which are inspired by his fascination with Egyptian mythology.
Cloak (Tyrone Johnson, mail clerk) - No 1610 counterpart thus far. A runaway with a stutter, he landed a job as a mail clerk for an office building in NYC. There he met Dagger and they became fast friends. How they got their powers I'm still not sure about.
Dagger (Tandy Bowen, secretary) - Not yet introduced in 1610. She is similar to her 616 counterpart, except that when she ran away from home to NYC she became a secretary. There she met Cloak and they started their partnership. She continues to keep that job.
I am eager to hear feedback from you all as to the idea as well as the characters. As for plots, well, those are my little secret
(Is there some reason that no one tends to mention this newer reinvisioning of the Marvel stories? If there is some taboo, please tell me now and I will stop talking.)
Otherwise, I would consider the Ultimate Universe to be an interesting place for an RPG. With the (slightly) more realistic tone and a much more simplified histories, it would be an interesting place to play.
At first I had considered a story which utilized a "backup" or "secondary" team of the Ultimates (which I tenatively named "the Vanguard"). This team would be formed post-Ultimate Extinction and include Captian Mahr Vehl, Warbird (Carol Danvers grafted with a suit built by Tony Stark from his reverse-engineering of Mahr Vehl), US Agent (a "backup" for Captain America), Spider-Woman, etc. However, this idea was slightly unsettling to me for a variety of reasons:
1) there already is one team of Ultimates, and this secondary team would fill basically the same purpose,
2) the first team of Ultimates can barely justify their own funding, and
3) introducing another group of governmentally-sponsored superheroes would take away from the Ultimates' popularity, which is very important.
Then I read about Daredevil forming his own group of "Knights" to combat the Kingpin in New York City. This idea has several advantages, not all of which are immediately apparent:
1) these "Knights" would be the anti-Ultimates in the sense that they are simply working-class people who also fight crime. They are not professional heroes, and indeed they are not compensated at all for their work. They also keep their identities a secret as incognito vigilanties, unlike the Ultimates who actively seek popular approval and positive public opinion. While the Ultimates deal with issues of national or international importance, the Knights focus on problems local to their home, New York City. Lastly, as well-funded as the Ultimates are, the Knights have no funding beyond their own personal wealth (which, because they are all working-class, is not that great).
2) the Knights would be (for the most part) stand-alone characters instead of backup members of a team. This is more appealing as a player as follows: it is more exciting to play as Cloak and Dagger or Luke Cage than as some third-string member of the Avengers who is relatively weak.
3) being that the members keep their "day jobs", it is easy for them to gain information and keep an ear to the streets, which feeds back into the idea of dealing with local problems instead of national catastrophies.
4) in some sense the scale is far smaller for the Knights - they do not battle epic villians in a struggle to save the human race, but instead must battle in the streets and alleyways of NYC to try and forge a better, more secure life for its inhabitants. In this vein, it is possible for a seemingly insignificant event to be a huge hinderance to the Knights - a single traffic jam may leave a member stranded without a chance to change persona while his fellow teammates are at the mercy of a villain. (This example is taken from the Defenders).
Now to discuss who should be on the team. Firstoff, let me say that not all of these characters (currently) exist in 1610, and of those that do I have altered the details of their stories somewhat to fit the theme more. Listed next to each character is their real name and occupation, as well as any other notes I have made. These are the characters that I had thought about, but I am open to suggestion for other characters or changes to these characters.
Daredevil (Matt Murdock, lawyer) - Organizer and leader. Familar backstory as always.
Echo (Maya Lopez, maid) - Currently does not exist in 1610, but is slated to become active. I have tenatively given her the occupation of maid to fit the feel of the Knights, but that is subject to change. Her "power" is naturally occuring but is not a mutation.
Luke Cage (Carl Lucas, longshoreman) - He seems to be the embodiment of the Knight's philosophy of a citizen/hero. He does not exist in the 1610, so I have to come up with a backstory. I was thinking he could be a longshoreman who accidentally spilled a large canister of chemics (which was destined for Oscorp) on himself, but this seems incredibly lame as it is virtually idential to Daredevil's source of power.
Moon Knight (Marc Spector, cab driver) - Similar to his 616 incarnation, except for his real identity. For the 1610, I have him with only one alternate identity - the cab driver Marc Spector. (I realize this smashes together two of his 616 identities, but hey - it's my world.) He has no "powers" per se, but relies on physical training and gadgets, many of which are inspired by his fascination with Egyptian mythology.
Cloak (Tyrone Johnson, mail clerk) - No 1610 counterpart thus far. A runaway with a stutter, he landed a job as a mail clerk for an office building in NYC. There he met Dagger and they became fast friends. How they got their powers I'm still not sure about.
Dagger (Tandy Bowen, secretary) - Not yet introduced in 1610. She is similar to her 616 counterpart, except that when she ran away from home to NYC she became a secretary. There she met Cloak and they started their partnership. She continues to keep that job.
I am eager to hear feedback from you all as to the idea as well as the characters. As for plots, well, those are my little secret
