Thursday, February 16, 2017

Generations: 1938 First Foes and Future History

The creation of an open supers universe has hit a few snags. Nothing I can't get past, but they do need some consideration. Lets discuss.

The process for creating villains and the adventures that follow is quite a trick. I could use the Mythic GM Emulator, however I do not own that and I currently have no money for which to buy it. I may get it in the future, but for now I kind of have to wing it and come up with a situation generation device. Some of the villains and plots will pretty straightforward. If you come up with a Jewish folk hero right before World War II, for instance, it is not that much of a leap to get said hero fighting Nazis and Nazi Sympathizers. Some of the history stuff will be dependent on other heroes and villains that already exist(as I go forward), and some of it will be because it makes sense in the timeline as I am constructing it in my head.

I sort of have a rough outline of the century as it mostly will progress, based on the actual history of the big comic book universes and some ideas I have had floating around for a while now. It will start as normal with the twentieth century as we understand it. Then in the late thirties the secret world will become reveled through the lens of super human heroes and villains. The War will unite them and many great adventures will be had fighting Nazis and such. After the war, much celebrating and a return to form. In the fifties their will be Civil Strife and many heroes will go into the shadows again due to the HUAC stuff and all that. Also in the fifties will be prime time for awesome super spy organizations like UNCLE, CONTROL, SHIELD, and others. The Sixties will be a big time of Exploration of space as well as the civil rights movement. The Seventies will be prime supers time. A whole new generation of heroes has been raised up on the stories of the previous generation's heroes and will begin to don the capes once more. The eighties will bring a massive tech revolution that began in the seventies, only it will be much faster and more dramatic because of super science and the like. The nineties will be almost cyberpunk due to these advances, leading into the 2000s which will be the worlds first steps into a wider universe with the colonization of the Moon, Mars, and Venus. I have yet to decide if the solar system is inhabited by aliens yet, I could see it being interesting either way. I am open to suggestions.

So that out of the way lets dig a bit into The Golem's adventures. First I know somethings already. The Golem is immortal, which means he could be his own legacy and also he can serve as that central moral Icon for the century, much as another semi immortal alien super hero did for another universe. Golem may get taken out, but he will always return. I also know that he will have a daughter(Thanks to +Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi for that, really changed how I saw the character and opened up a lot of interesting avenues) who shows up in the seventies do to some strange circumstance with a sorceress named Drusilla, who no one on earth has ever met. Dusty, the daughter shows up as a teenager in the seventies, so that means that sometime in the fifties Golem travels to another dimension, meets Drusilla and they somehow form a union that results in a daughter created through magic. Because of this we know that other dimensions exist, perhaps an infinite Landscape of dimensions, or perhaps a finite one. So that is all in the future. In 1938 he encounters to villains of any real note. Mostly he fights corrupt councilmen, aldermen, and slumlords who are hurting the Jewish community in New York. I like to think he has a bit of a sense of humor about, giving out poetic punishments that are meant to teach people the error of their ways as much as punish them.

The Ghost(Later known as the Flying Dutchman) and the Crime College first came into being in the late twenties. The Ghost is sort of a talent scout for criminals. He is a master of many skills, His family is of the dutch royal line exiled due to circumstances none wish to speak of, he was raised to be a master of all skills and disciplines. He used those skills to become a master thief and by the mid twenties had accumulated over ten million dollars in ill gotten gains. He then set about investing that money in the inner city, gathering talented people to him to build an empire of crime and advance the science of crime. He employs scientists to develop technologies to enhance criminals, and he trains street toughs in a martial art of his own devising. He does not run organized crime, but he sells services and technology to Organized crime.  The Ghost encounters The Golem when some of his operations were disrupted by The Golem. He came out of retirement and fought the Golem to a standstill his technology just barely a match for the Golem's inhuman might. He was eventually defeated and handed over to the authorities, but promptly escaped and is on the lamb. He still nurses a grudge and swore that one day he would bring the Golem low.

Die Maske is a member of the Nazi SS who specializes in disguise. None but Himmler know his real name(or even if he is a man or a woman). Die Maske uses specialized chemicals to make her skin more pliable and shapeable, as well as to change her voice. He uses this to study and copy people and to gather secret information. He first encountered the Golem when trying to sabotage the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and frame the French Government. The Goem put a stop to the plans, but could not capture Die Maske as she placed innocent people in danger. The Golem had to choose between catching Him and saving innocents. I see Die Maske a s a solid recurring villain in any story involving the War.

Now that I have the two big adventures of 1938 somewhat plotted out I got to thinking. What are some of the knock on effects of the Appearance of the Golem? For one I think that interest in the Jewish faith will be on the rise. I have a feeling Orthodox Jewish belief will have a larger impact on the history of North America than it did in our own century. It also raises the question on the nature of Deity in the universe. I am a christian, so I do tend to have a bias toward a specific monotheistic worldview. However I really do like having the various pantheons and such as well, I love all of Jack Kirby's stuff(the Fourth World, Asgard) as well as being quite fond of the Greek and Roman Pantheons. I would also like to do something fun with the Hindu pantheon...maybe. I am thinking of doing a solution like they did in the DC universe, where there is an Uncaused First Cause(the Source) and the gods are just super powerful entities that are often worshiped throughout the cosmos. I could even call the central godhead, The Cause or something of the like. Let e know what you think. Maybe you have a better idea for how the gods would work in this universe.

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