The Blood of Tyrants (an original world designed for Heroes Unlimited 2)

[khyron1144]

[ooc]Imagine a comic book company that never really hit the big time, even in the big speculator-driven boom and bust cycles of the 80s and 90s but also hasn't totally collapsed between the Silver Age and now.*  This company specializes in superhero books but can't call them that because of the DC-Marvel joint trademark on the word superhero.  It has chased the dominant trends of the day, well into the Dark Age of the 90s.

I imagine this company to be called Taylor Comics and headquartered out of Grand Rapids, Michigan for reasons that make sense to me alone.  This has always been a small operation, putting out about six books a month.  There's an Editor In Chief/Head Writer, J. Orion Taylor, who has maintained a steady hand on the rudder and kept his comics universe compact and self-consistent.  The art and a small amount of the scripting is done by a small but trusted pool of free-lancers.

A funny thing happened to the Taylor Comics Universe during the speculator-chasing Big Event days of the Dark Age.  J. Orion Taylor decided to follow the trend into Big Events and a Darker and Grittier universe by killing off his flagship characters Champion, Major Night, and Power Lad.  The funny thing was, rather than taking the route that DC and Marvel did with resurrections following the Comic Book Death of major characters and Continuity Reboots down the line, Taylor Comics decided to spend time charting the course of a superhero universe in the absence of its major heroes.






*Writing that sentence out brought AC Comics to mind, although I think they started in the late 70s or early 80s, Bronze Age territory and are much leaner and rather niche-oriented now.[/ooc]

[BasnetI]

innnnnnnteresting

[khyron1144]

innnnnnnteresting

Glad to have piqued someone's interest so early, but really I'm just starting.

[LordVreeg]

there is a long way to go.

Many gamers have read comics and enjoyed them; only to be upset as the verisimilitude got tossed.

I remember when Gwen Stacy died...wow.  It brought mortality, and all that stuff about the grandeur and grittiness of reality into the comicbook world, cementing that dividing line between the insipid uber-powerful yet cinematic fluff of the old world of comics. 

changed comics for decades, though so many have tried to turn it back without understanding what they are doing.

[khyron1144]

[ooc]Champion was Taylor Comics's first supers book and in many ways the flagship book and character.[/ooc]
[ic]Champion
Earth's Greatest Hero-deceased
Orbiting the star Sirius is a planet. This planet is of close to Earth-like size and has an abrasive atmosphere. The planet does support life, and the dominant species is humanoid in shape with many canine-like characteristics. These canine aliens who refer to themselves as the Krif have more advanced star-faring technology than any nation on Earth.

One soldier of the Krif, known to his own people as Grrarrk Yeep, was accidentally exposed to high doses of radiation. Somehow it activated a latent potential within his genetic code that caused him to undergo strange mutations. The mane of hair down his back turned from the normal brown to green. He grew to incredible size and found himself possessed of amazing speed and co-ordination. He could even fly under his own power.

Grrarrk became an important tool of the Krif government often leading the charge in the war against the Alph-Cent, the humanoid mineral natives of the high gravity world orbiting Alpha Centauri. He was chosen to be the military command on an important new mission to acquire resources by conquering the third planet out from an unassuming yellow star. That planet was Earth.

There's something weird about Earth. Nobody knows why, but the standard guidance systems on many alien races' ships stop functioning near Earth. Earth is thus a sort of Bermuda Triangle of outer space getting more than our fair share of crashes. Grrarrk's ship was one such crash, landing in the wheat fields of Iowa. Grrarrk was the only survivor from his ship, and he was in bad shape.

When the army came to investigate the crash, Grrarrk was taken into custody. He made a full recovery, and cut a deal with the humans: he would renounce any plan of conquest and work exclusively for the government that held him. He would also share as much information on his native technology as he was able. In return, the Earth scientists would not vivisect him.

The United States Government decided that the best use for Grrarrk's abilities, and the best way to avoid a panic over the narrowly averted alien invasion, would be for him to become a costumed crime fighter like the ones in the popular comic books of the day. Thus Champion was born.

Grrarrk really did come to identify with the Champion identity and his adopted homeworld. Eventually other heroes emerged, some thanks to technology recovered from Champion's ship, as did powerful villains to challenge them. One such villain was Tyrant, one of only seven successful attempts to create an Alph-Cent super-soldier. He came to be Champion's greatest foe both because of the similar level of power and because of the long years of war between their parent races.

After about thirty years, something happened to the world. Things started to get darker. The new heroes emerging were barely better than villains and previously harmless and stupid villains were becoming dangerous and smart. Heroes started dying.

Then, the unthinkable happened: Champion was killed at the hands of Tyrant. Champion was not in great fighting condition; he had been injured only days before in a fight with one of his lesser foes, Sarpedon, Wielder of the Chaos Spear; and Tyrant was on a rampage through Chicago. The only hope was for Champion to stop him. Tyrant held nothing back, while Champion, being a good guy was trying to take Tyrant alive. Eventually the fight was too much and Champion died.[/ic]
[spoiler=crunch]Name:   Champion
True Name:   Grrarrk Yeep
Occupation:   Government-sponsored Costumed Hero
Alignment:   Scrupulous
Hit Points: 94         S.D.C.: 912
Weight: 1,060 Pounds (477 kg), Height: 26 Feet (7.9248 m), Age:   Close to one-hundred Earth-years at the time of his death (late middle age for his species)
Attributes: I.Q.   21, M.E. 11, M.A. 9, P.S. 71 (Supernatural), P.P. 17,   P.E. 21, P.B. 8, Spd. 15 Sonic Speed allowed him to run at Mach One 700 MPH (1126 km/h); he could Rocket Charge at 2700 MPH for 38 melee rounds (9 and a half minutes), and he had the ability to fly at 480 MPH
Disposition: Champion is often described as deadly serious and stiff. He exhibits a definite deference to military superiors but is ready for leadership roles when they are thrust upon him.
Experience Level: Fifteenth (at time of death)
Combat Skills: Hand to Hand: Martial Arts
Attacks per Melee: 15, 16 when running or flying
Bonuses:
Other Bonuses:
Weapon Proficiency Bonuses:
Super Power Category: Mega-Hero Alien Mutant
Major Super Abilities: Sonic Speed, Rocket Charge
Minor Super Abilities: Giant, Flight: Wingless, Heavyweight, Indestructible Bones, Multi-tasking
Mega Super Abilities: Tremendous Physical Strength, Impervious to Pressure
Unusual Physical Characteristics: Green Hair, Ambidextrous, and Stocky, Exceptionally Broad
Education: Alien Military Specialist
Scholastic Bonus: +10% to Espionage and Military skills only
Skills of Note: Armorer (field) 98%, Demolitions 98%, Demolitions Disposal 98%, Military Etiquette 98%, Trap/ Mine Detection 98%, Detect Ambush 98%, Detect Concealment 98%, Intelligence 98%, Interrogation 98%, Sniper, Boxing, Wrestling, Acrobatics, Gymnastics, W.P. Energy Pistol, W.P. Bolt-Action Rifle, W.P. Automatic and Semi-automatic Rifle, W.P. Sword
Secondary Skills: Body Building and Weight-lifting, Athletics (general), W.P. Blunt, W.P. Revolver
Appearance: Champion was a humanoid being with many canine traits. He was always big and strong. At the end of his career he was a full twenty-six feet (7.9248 m) tall. He had a mane of green hair down his back.
Familiarity With Earth: By the end of his career equivalent to studied Earth extensively.
Occupation: Champion was a full-time superhuman military resource used to apply superhuman levels of force to solve problems.
Weapons: Champion was forced to mostly abandon the use of firearms due to his unusually large size. Towards the end of his career he mostly used uprooted telephone poles and trees as improvised clubs. He was known to have someone working on designing a sword that felt right to someone of his size and strength, whether this project was ever completed and what may have happened to it after Champion's death is unknown.
Body Armor: Champion never wore armor, thinking of his body as more than adequate protection for itself. Natural A.R. of 14
Vehicles: Avoided them as much as possible preferring to run or fly everywhere. He is pretty much as big as the entire seating capacity of the average Armored Personnel Carrier (APC).
Money: The military paid his room and board and beyond that he needed very little.[/spoiler]

[khyron1144]

Major Night
[ooc]When J. Orion Taylor saw the sales figures on early issues of Champion, he decided to move the Taylor Comics in a more supers-oriented direction.   Champion as both a book and a character was brightly colored and gaudy and maybe even a little bit goofy; J. Orion Taylor felt that the next superhero in all but name and his book should be slightly darker and more serious in tone in terms of both art and script.   He wanted to create a hero who would be vaguely reminiscent of The Shadow, The Spider, Master of Men; and old, good Batman stories; in Mystery at Night #67, Major Night debuted.

After sales figures and letters came in to say that Major Night was a hit, J. Orion Taylor turned Mystery at Night into Major Night at issue #75.[/ooc]

[ic]Champion's ship had a built-in stealth system that, according to Champion, worked by using a Darkness Energy Generator.   This knocked Earth physics of the time into a cocked hat, what with darkness usually being thought of as simply the absence of light energy.   Project Penumbra was formed to study this Darkness Energy Generator.

United States Army Major Lawrence Night was the government's military liaison with Project Penumbra.  During a routine inspection, a special Darkness Battery, designed to hold the Darkness Energy, exploded, bombarding Major Night with Darkness Energy.

Exposure to Darkness Energy changed Major Night into something no longer quite human.
[/ic]

[ooc]Taylor Comics later revealed that this same accident also affected a Janitor, who became Night Terror, the mutant monster; and a CIA plant, who became Agent Erebus, a grim vigilante.[/ooc]

[ic]Initially, the government tried to keep Major Night's existence secret, but when the Major publicly had to aid Champion in defeating the Four Alien Arthropods, the government decided to use it as a public relations opportunity.  Shortly after this first team up of superpowered individuals, the government announced it was going form a response team to deal with extraordinary threats.[/ic]

[khyron1144]

[ooc]With the death of Champion, Tyrant became the star of a new monthly series published by Taylor Comics that picked up its numbering from the Champion's solo book.[/ooc]
[ic]Tyrant
Earth's Mightiest Villain
Orbiting the star Alpha Centauri is a planet. This planet is a densely packed ball of mostly heavy metals.  The surface gravity is something like ten Gs. The only natives of this planet are a sentient race of humanoid shape made of minerals. Their major rivals, the Krif, call these rocky humanoids the Alph-Cent.

The Krif are at least as prone to accidental mutation as Earth's humans. They can be psionically gifted, and their world has at least as much magical energy available as Earth. This means that the Krif have a noticeable ability to produce super-powered individuals. The Alph-Cent did not.

The Alph-Cent felt that this disparity of super-beings would prove to be a tactical disadvantage. They embarked on a vigorous program of deliberate attempts at mutation to create a super-soldier. The test subjects were all condemned criminals.  Out of seven hundred subjects, seven survived. Some believe that the super-soldier treatment drove these subjects even more insane than they started as. It is certain that the seven successful test subjects were as great a danger to the Alph-Cent as to the Krif.

One of them, who became known as Glaktir or Tyrant, was being exiled to a prison world when he broke free and deliberately crashed his ship on the primitive planet known as Earth. Tyrant's ship crashed on Detroit. Specifically, on Tiger Stadium during a World Series game with a capacity crowd. Losses were enormous.

Champion and the rest of SABER (Super-human Advanced Battle Expert Resources) were called in to deal with the disaster. Champion knew of Glaktir by reputation from his days with the Krif Space Armada. The two immediately engaged in battle, while Major Night, Power Lad, and Brigid worked to rescue survivors. Tyrant was eventually subdued and captured.

Tyrant was imprisoned in a special facility designed to combat such threats making use of the best in physical, magical, and psychic techniques available.  It was never quite enough though and Tyrant escaped again and again, each fight growing more catastrophic.

After Tyrant arrived, something felt different about the world.  Maybe it was because, finally, someone possibly mightier than Champion had arrived, so the world lost a certain amount of faith in its greatest protector.  Something was wrong with the world now.

Tyrant went on to become Champion's greatest foe on Earth, escaping, rampaging, and then getting recaptured after an intense battle numerous times. Then it happened: the world started changing. Times were getting darker for the heroes. Temporis killed Power Lad. Major Night died in battle against a collection of his greatest foes. Brigid simply disappeared.

Finally, Tyrant escaped mere days after Champion was injured in a fight with Sarpedon. The fight was intense. Tyrant held nothing back. Champion, steadfastly maintaining his belief in law and order, was trying to capture Tyrant alive. Tyrant delivered the death blow an hour into the fight that tore up large sections of downtown Chicago.

About a year after the death of Champion, John Dee, Master of Sorcery, came to tyrant with an offer. Together the two of them along with a select cabal of others could take over the world. The team hit Washington D.C. like a giant storm. In under a half-hour, the President and Vice President of the United States of America were dead, as was Congress, the Supreme Court, most of the President's Cabinet, and a large number of top officials in the FBI, NSA, CIA, and the military.

In similar blitzes, the villains hit Tokyo, Moscow, Beijing, and London. The world effectively came under their rule. Tyrant officially has charge over the Eastern portion of the Americas, but he monitors the whole world from SABER's captured satellite headquarters.[/ic]

[spoiler=crunch]Name: Tyrant
True Name: Glaktir <Alph-Cent for Tyrant>
Occupation: Conqueror of Earth
Alignment: Diabolic
Hit Points: 78 (136 when transformed), S.D.C.: 282 (1,315 when transformed) (4,075 at maximum height of 98 feet 2 inches)
Weight: 180 Lbs. (260 when transformed) (4,860 at 98 feet 2 inches), Height: 5 feet 2 inches ( 6 feet 2 inches when transformed) (maximum height attainable with growth is 98 feet 2 inches)  Age: Around 200 Earth years.
Attributes: I.Q. 20, M.E. 15, M.A. 12, P.S. 44 (71 when transformed) (163 at maximum height of 98 feet 2 inches) (counts as Supernatural when transformed), P.P. 17, P.E. 26 (46 When transformed), P.B. 12, Spd. 48 (96 when over 20 feet tall) (capable of flying at 450 MPH when transformed)
Disposition: Arrogant and cruel. Tyrant respects only power and almost no one has more power than Tyrant. Tyrant considers ordinary humans to be insignificant insects.
Experience Level: 15th
Combat Skills: Hand to Hand: Assassin
Attacks per Melee: 9 (10 while flying)
Bonuses: +7 on Initiative, +7 to strike (+9 when flying) (+9 when over 20 feet tall) (+11 when flying and over 20 feet tall), +6 to Parry (+8 when over 20 feet tall) (+8 when flying) (+10 when flying and over 20 feet tall), +6 to Dodge (+10 when flying at less than 80 MPH) (+12 when flying over 90 MPH), +35 to Damage (even more with powers turned on, etc.), +5 to Pull Punch, +11 to Roll With Punch, Fall, or Impact, +4 to Disarm
Other Bonuses: +22% to Save vs. Coma or Death (+42% when transformed), +6 to Save vs. Magic, Poison, or Toxin (+9 when transformed)
Weapon Proficiency Bonuses: an additional +4 to Strike with Blunt weapons, an additional +4 to Parry with Blunt weapons, an additional+5 to Strike with Swords, an additional +5 to Parry with Swords, an additional +4 to Strike with Knives, an additional +5 to Parry with Knives, an additional +4 to Strike with Thrown Knives, an additional +3 to Strike with Chain weapons, an additional +3 to Parry with Chain weapons, +6 to Strike on Aimed shot with an Energy Pistol, +6 to Strike on Aimed shot with Energy Rifle, +7 to Strike on Aimed shot with a revolver
Super Power Category: Alien Mega-Experiment
Major Super Abilities: Growth
Minor Super Abilities: Extraordinary Physical Endurance, Healing Factor, Wingless Flight
Mega Super Abilities: Tremendous Physical Strength, Tremendous S.D.C.
Experimental Side Effect: Must Physically Transform
Education: Alien Combat Specialist
Scholastic Bonus: +10%
Skills of Note: Acrobatics, Gymnastics, Boxing, Wrestling, W.P. Blunt, W.P. Sword, W.P. Knife, W.P. Chain, W.P. Energy Pistol, W.P. Energy Rifle, Pilot Tanks and APCs 98%, First Aid 98%
Secondary Skills: Running, W.P. Revolver, Streetwise 80%, Computer Operation 98%, Basic Mathematics 98%, Advanced Mathematics 98%
Appearance: Tyrant is a humanoid being made of rock. In his natural state he is short ( 5 foot 2 inches) and a dull gray color. When he transforms to use his powers he is taller (6 feet 2 inches) and striking blue-white color. He is almost always in his transformed state. He is not anatomically correct by human standards and doesn't bother with clothes.
Occupation: Effectively ruler of the world.
Weapons: When only around human size, Tyrant has been known to use an Energy Sword, Energy Pistol, or Energy Rifle. He also has a fondness for .44 Magnums.
Body Armor: Never wears it. He has a natural A.R. of 14 even when not powered up.
Vehicles: Generally prefers to fly under his own power.
Money: All the money in the world, should he want it.[/spoiler]

[khyron1144]

Brigid the Spell-Weaver
[ooc]In a way, Brigid is actually Taylor Comics's oldest character.  Before catching the superhero revival wave, one of Taylor Comics's publications was a cute humor book about a little girl named Brigid, a little witch with a heart of gold, going to a boarding school for magic-using children.  Eventually, J. Orion Taylor decided to age the Brigid character up to adulthood and rework her back-story a bit to mesh better with his burgeoning superhero universe.[/ooc]

[ic]Brigid is the latest incarnation of the Celtic Goddess, Brigid.[/ic]

[khyron1144]

Soundtrack Suggestions
General Atmosphere
"Welcome to the Occupation"- REM, "Disturbance at the Heron House" - REM (I'd almost consider the entire Document album the unofficial soundtrack of Blood of Tyrants, although "The One I Love" is a little out of place, even with the subtext of relentlessly using people for your own amusement)
"The Spy in the Cab" -Bauhaus
"All Along The Watchtower" -Bob Dylan or Jimmi Hendrix
"Desolation Row" - I lean towards the My Chemical Romance cover from the Watchmen movie soundtrack

Specific Villain Themes
Tyrant:   "Give Me The Prize (Kurgan's Theme)" - Queen
John Dee, the Master of Sorceries: "The Man Who Sold The World" - Nirvana covering David Bowie on their unplugged album


PC Hero Theme Songs
"Heroes" - Wallflowers cover of the David Bowie song from the Godzilla soundtrack
"Princes of the Universe" - Queen
"Firework" - Katy Perry

[khyron1144]

Suggested Reading List

Superheroes Played Straight And Done Well
Silver Age
Showcase Presents Green Lantern Volume 1
Marvel Comics Essential Fantastic Four Volume 1
Marvel Comics Essential Avengers Volume 1
Marvel Comics Essential Spider-Man Volume 1
"Superman Red, Superman Blue" reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told and other places.

Emulating The Silver Age
Alan Moore's work on Supreme
The 1963 mini-series published by Image
Astro City in places
Untold Tales of Spider-Man

Bronze Age
Showcase Presents Batman and the Outsiders

Bronze Age Monster Heroes, Anti-Heroes, and Villain Protagonists
Marvel Comics Essential Tomb of Dracula Volume 1
Marvel Comics Essential Werewolf By Night Volume 1
Marvel Comics Essential Monster of Frankenstein

Bronze Age Martial Arts
Marvel Comics Essential Iron Fist

Bronze Age Feminist Comics
Marvel Comics Essential Ms. Marvel

Bronze Age Ethnic Diversity
Marvel Comics Essential Luke Cage Volume 1
Marvel Comics Essential X-Men Volume 1

Bronze Age Street Level Superheroes
Marvel Comics Essential Power Man & Iron Fist

Product of the Dark Age
Knightfall
Rising Stars
Terra Obscura
Ghost Rider, Wolverine, Punisher Hearts of Darkness
Sabretooth Back to Nature
Judgment Day published by Awesome


Written by a Genre Savvy Author and Deconstructs Aspects of the Superhero Tradition/Deliberately Invokes and then Inverts Tropes
Squadron Supreme
Miracle Man
V For Vendetta
Black Orchid the mini-series by Neil Gaiman
Watchmen



Game-Related Resources
When I get around to presenting character write-ups, I will be drawing on:
Heroes Unlimited 2nd edition
Heroes Unlimited Game Master Guide
Powers Unlimited
Powers Unlimited 2
Powers Unlimited 3
Ninjas & Superspies
Mystic China
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness
Transdimensional   Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Among other sources.