DC Adventures - Identity Crisis Part 2

Continuing my overview of the active characters featured in my possible Justice League Academy/Young Justice campaign (after a longer than I wanted hiatus), I thought I'd focus on what's different rather than what's the same. Isn't that the fun part of using an established superhero comic book universe after all?

The largest single change is that the Charlton Comics characters; Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Captain Atom, Nightshade, Peacemaker, the Question and Peter Cannon/Thunderbolt are all dead. That's right, dead. Along with Maxwell Lord, these characters died during Earth Alpha D-1's version of Final Crisis. While I can't reveal the exact nature of my plans less my potential players read this, anyone who knows me well knows how fond I am of the Charlton characters. They can't really be dead. Can they?

Moving on...a number of characters stand alone on Earth Alpha D-1, with no active membership in any one team (although many of these characters are reserve members or staunch allies of one or more teams). Among the most notable of these are Nightwing (Richard 'Dick' Grayson, the former Robin), Batgirl (Stephanie Brown, formerly Spoiler), the Creeper (Jack Ryder) and Metamorpho (Rex Mason).

Nightwing protects a modified concept for Bludhaven that I have in mind. Batgirl protects Gotham when Batman is with the Justice League and Robin (Tim Drake-Wayne) is with the Teen Titans. The Creeper is a favorite character of mine and while I'm not entirely sure what to do with him yet, rest assured I will find a place for him and it will scare the beejeebers out of my players. As for another old favorite Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho - The Element Man, I plan on using him more like his original incarnation. Picture a jet-setting Indiana Jones meets James Bond type fellow who just happens to look like a shape-shifting freak. His attitude and adventures would be in the vein of Tom Strong crossed with Venture Brothers.

Lastly for this installment are the staff members of the Justice League Academy. For the most part, I decided that in many cases DC has a few too many of the same character running around (quite literally in terms of the Flash) and nothing to do with them. Well on Earth Alpha D-1, those who fight crime do, those who used to teach.

So, the faculty at the Academy that is responsible for teaching the next generation of Justice Leaguers includes a number of former Justice League members. The staff includes: Prof. Ray Palmer (the former/Silver Age Atom, now Project Director and the Head of Operation: Young Justice), Barry Allen (the former/Silver Age Flash, who teaches Forensics and Criminology), Ralph Dibney (the former Elongated Man - not dead on Earth Alpha D-1 - teaches Detective Work and Investigative techniques), John Henry Irons (aka Steel, who I've modified quite a bit. His 'armor' is a super thin nanotech skin that grows over him and gives him all the abilities he has in his comic book armor plus a few more - Irons teaches Advanced Engineering and Quantum Mechanics. He also serves as the teams main go-to guy for anything technological) and Hector Hall (who runs our version of the Danger Room and helps the students learn how to use their powers. Look him up on the Wiki link and you'll see why he's the perfect choice. His assistant is Robert Reed of Dial "H" for Hero for similar reasons).

Wow. That was a lot more than I intended to write. See what happens when you don't post often...you post big! I've got a lot of other ideas swirlin' around in the old noggin but this will have to do for now. I've got a few other unrelated projects brewing too. Like...you'll see.

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Barking Alien

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming...

To bring you this special news bulletin...

I once again apologize for my infrequent blog entries but life outside of gaming, reading comics and blogging about gaming and reading comics has been especially active.

I am now a full-time, professional dog trainer...well...an assistant trainer to be more accurate but I love it and I am learning so much. I was in an apprentice program for almost a year before I received this position and it was well worth the wait.

Now this doesn't mean I haven't been gaming but it does mean I have less free time to develop new material and work on projects I am not actually running. Hopefully as I get into a routine I can get back to those somewhat neglected projects.

A few other notes...

I was at this amazing dog training seminar, a two day affair, where on the second day, each of the less experienced members of the training staff had to teach a behavior to a class consisting of the senior training staff. I was so nervous I slept less than I usually do (which quite possibly means the universe owes me some sleep as part of a cosmic balance sorta thing since I have insomnia to start with). I had never actually taught a class before and decided to take some ques from how I run a game. I mean, teaching a class and running an RPG session have a lot in common, no? Stand up (I rarely sit when I GM) in front of a group of different people, get their attention, keep their attention and explain what it is we're going to do during the time we're together.

You've got to inform, entertain and be approachable so students (or players) can feel good asking questions. You have to convince the intrepid to take their time and the timid to give it a try. You have to 'work a room' and get everyone excited so you can all share in a great experience. You need to be knowledgable about the rules. You need to have fun.

In the end everyone that I did a great job and I have to say I'm pretty proud. 'Proud' is not a word I am always comfortable with and yet this time I have to say it feels damn good.

Anyway, more DC Adventures talk on the way as well as a revisiting of one of my all time favorite games ever...a present for a friend's birthday...Galaxy Quest!

See you soon,

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Barking Alien

Star Trek, The Birthday

Now I know I'm been on a pretty solid Superhero kick lately but I'm still a tried and true Star Trek fan. I wouldn't be doing my Trekkie duty if I didn't mention that today is the birthday of my favorite flight into the final frontier.

Happy Birthday Star Trek! 44 and still going strong!

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Barking Alien

DC Adventures - Identity Crisis Part 1

Continuing my rundown of who is and isn't in the super biz in my Earth Alpha D-1 campaign setting, I thought it might be a good idea to tackle the task by identifying the characters and the particular group affiliation they maintain.

The world's foremost superhero team is the Justice League of America. Often referred to as the Justice League or simply the JLA, my incarnation aims to incorporate the classical line-up as much as possible. As of 2010, the JLA consists of Aquaman* (King Orin of Atlantis/Arthur Curry), Batman (Bruce Wayne), The Flash (Wallace 'Wally' West), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), Green Lantern* (John Stewart), Hawkgirl* (Shayera Hall), Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz), Superman (Clark Kent/Kal-El) and Wonder Woman (Princess Diana of Themyscira). There are dozens of part-time, associate and reserve members (including the staff and students of the Justice League Academy) but those listed are the primary, standing roster. The Justice League is headquartered at The Hall of Justice (located in Metropolis) or their orbital space station known as "The Watchtower".

The second most prominent team is the Justice Society of America. The JSA are one part superteam, one part social club and help train those legacy heroes descended from their various Golden Age members. Currently the older members are referred to as the Justice Society while the younger, newer members are often called the Young All-Stars or (as they themselves prefer) The All-Star Squadron*. Current membership includes Atom Smasher* (Grant Albert Emmerson), Cyclone (Maxine Hunkel), Dr. Midnight (Pieter Anton Cross), The Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Hawkman* (Carter Hall), Hourman (Rick Tyler), Liberty Belle (Jesse Chambers), Mr. Terrific (Michael Holt), Power Girl (Karen Starr/Kara Zor-El), Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore) and Wildcat (Ted Grant). Associate and other allied members exist but I'm focusing this team being a bit smaller than it often appears in the comics these days. The team is based out of New York City.

No list of DC Universe superteams would be complete without the Teen Titans, who are among my personal favorites when done well (which hasn't always been the case sadly). The main difference between the Titans and our version of Young Justice is age; The Teen Titans are roughly high school age (13-19) for the most part while Young Justice is a roughly college age group (20-26). The other major difference is that the connection between the Titans is one of family, even if that family is largely dysfunctional. The current Teen Titans of Earth Alpha D-1 are Kid Flash (Bart Allen), Miss Martian (M'gann M'orzz/Megan Morse), Robin (Tim Drake-Wayne), Speedy* (Cissie King-Jones), Superboy (Conner Kent/Con-El) and Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandmark). The team is lead/mentored by former Titans Cyborg (Victor Stone), Changeling (Garfield "Beast Boy" Logan) and Raven. The number of allied members are far too numerous to recount here. Titans Tower, the group's distinctive headquarters, is located in San Francisco Bay.

Whew, that's enough for now. Next up we'll look at the independant heroes, those characters and teams that are significantly altered from their comic book counterparts and maybe...just maybe...the PCs of Justice League Academy.

A note regarding those names with an asterisk " * ". Characters so noted are slightly different from their current DC universe incarnation but essentially recognizable to even the most casual fan. I have, in these cases, chosen the best possible take on the character or combined multiple incarnations to come up with a version that works for this campaign. For example, on Earth Alpha D-1, Green Lantern John Stewart looks and acts like the Justice League Unlimited animated series version instead of the sad sack version normally portrayed in print.

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Barking Alien

DC Adventures - Who's Who

In creating a campaign for Green Ronin's DC Adventure RPG, part of my initial design process was to determine which characters exist (or don't) on my personal infinite earth.

Going with my own belief that DC's strongest asset is its wealth of stories and characters that cover 75 years of publishing, I want as much of what they have developed to be available in my game as possible. I want the possibility of using virtually any location, setting, device, hero or villain ever.

Unfortunately, that does present some problems. DC currently has more than one Flash. Actually, they have three. That's not three characters with superspeed, that's three separate characters all called The Flash. Two of the three wear virtually the same costume. That's kind of silly. So how do I fix this odd situation? Simple (you hear that DC? I said simple...).

For the most part Earth Alpha D-1, as I have designated my campaign world, is identical to the universe any current DC reader is familiar with. Clark Kent is Superman, Bruce Wayne is Batman and Princess Diana of Themyscira is Wonder Woman. All appear to be in their mid-thirties. The Justice League is the world's primary superhero team, Lex Luthor owns LexCorp, the Rocket Reds protect Russia and Joker is nuttier than a PayDay candy bar.

But who is the Flash? Who is Green Lantern? Who's dead?

The answers are: Three people, seven thousand, two hundred people and very few people.

Let's start with the fastest man alive, shall we? Since Infinite Crisis and Flash: Rebirth returned the silver age Flash, aka Barry Allen, to the world of the living following his awesome death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry has become the title character of the Flash comic book. Unfortunately, this has put the former Kid Flash, Wally West, who has worn the mantle of the Flash since the 80's, on the back burner. In the span of less than a year Wally West went from a major, A-List superhero who appeared on the animated Justice League Unlimited series to a barely discussed B-Lister. Boo DC. Bad form.

So, on Earth Alpha D-1, Wally West is the Flash and serves as a member of the Justice League of America. The reborn Barry Allen teaches Criminology and Forensics at the Justice League Academy facility which houses Operation: Young Justice, a training program for future superheroes and the focus of our campaign. The members of our version of Young Justice are too old to be 'teen' Titans and yet not quite ready for the JLA.

The third Flash is the golden age Flash of World War II, Jay Garrick, who thanks to a mystical time displacement incident currently operates as a mentor and trainer for members of the Justice Society of America.

On to my personal favorite superhero, Green Lantern!

There are thousands of Green Lanterns, two for every one of the 3,600 space sectors of our galaxy. So, Earth's emerald guardians are John Stewart who serves on the Justice League and mainly protects the Earth and Hal Jordan who is more mobile and tends to fly around our sector looking for trouble. Since its been established that Hal is a bit of a maverick and doesn't always get along well with authority in general (and JLA shot-caller Batman in particular), this just seemed logical.

Right now I'm not writing off anyone as definitely dead...except maybe Deadman. For the most part I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, everyone and everything exists. How they exist and where is much more fun to think about than whether they do or don't.

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Barking Alien