After the events of the Apocalypse War, S.H.I.E.L.D. underwent some extreme makeovers, and this included several shifts within the Avengers and the Ultimates for the purposes of our game. I'm going to detail as much as I can recollect for you now, so that you'll have a good sense of where things are at before the game actually begins (after all, since technically you've all been living in this universe before being recruited, you would have known at least some of this from the news).
First and foremost, as I mentioned before, the Ultimates quit S.H.I.E.L.D. and went independent. Now financed by Stark Industries, Captain America and his team of heroes have taken to serving whoever needs them, not just the American government. This no doubt might place them at odds with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the future, but so far they have caused no serious trouble. Just keep in mind that we won't be able to call Thor for help just because we're feeling overwhelmed.
On the other hand, when the Ultimates resigned that left an open spot, which the Avengers, being the group that did actually save the world, were immediately thrust into. So now the Avengers are S.H.I.E.L.D.'s premier superhuman fighting force, which means we have a lot more responsibility and a lot less leeway. When this promotion occurred, most of the team was still intact, and it included:
-Zex, master ninja and Captain of the team
-Focus, psychic extraordinaire and deputy leader
-Rock, the "muscle" of the group
-Waffleman, still as crazy as ever
-Ruby Teer, whose curse-related abilities had now been permanently replaced by Seth DeSavre's powers over light manipulation, including the ability to turn into light herself
The group looked promising, until something unexpected arrived on their doorstep and changed everything: Seth DeSavre showed up alive, though some might argue not in a good way.
Seth had indeed died in Ruby's arms, and in the afterlife he met Death of the Endless and her older brother, Destiny (yes, fans of the Sandman mythos can take comfort that Neil Gaiman's brainchild is a part of our universe). Though Death tried to be reassuring, Destiny told Seth that it was not yet his time, that he still had a part to play in the fate of his world, and so he was sent back to the land of the living. But even though his soul returned, his body was in no shape to revive itself...or was it?
Unbeknownst even to Seth himself, when Apocalypse "enhanced" him he actually saturated the young mutant's body with more cells than he had ever used before on a single organism. No one knows why Apocalypse did this. It could have been a random experiment, or perhaps a carefully orchestrated back-up plan should his other goals not be met. Whatever the case, this extreme "dosage" of the X-gene/Apocalypse cells completely remutated Seth's body, integrating itself with his own DNA to the point where the two were practically indistinguishable from each other. The overall effect this had, then, was that Seth had become all but an exact copy of Apocalypse. His skin was gray, his lips blue, his body fully malleable into any shape he could imagine, and his own brain now evolved to the point where it could display some rudimentary psychic abilities. Of course, as if dying and coming back to life wasn't traumatic enough, having an entirely new body and power set to adapt to pushed Seth to the breaking point. He was put through many rigorous medical and psychiatric evaluations as S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to figure out just what the hell had happened and how he could possibly move on.
Seth's changes not only affected his status as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but on the feelings of his teammates as well. After all, he now looked like nothing less than a youthful version of their most hated enemy. Ruby in particular took it very hard. She still loved Seth deeply, but trying to hold onto that love while he bore the face of her worst nightmare proved almost unbearable. She tried to hide this anguish from Seth, but now that he could read the thoughts of others it all proved for naught. Seth broke off their relationship, and the loss of the woman he literally died for just made him all the moodier.
Then came the introduction of the West Coast Initiative. Rather than keep the majority of their forces grouped solely in New York (after the Triskelion was rebuilt, of course), the heads of S.H.I.E.L.D. decided it might be a good idea to "spread the wealth" a bit. The decision was made to split the Avengers into two groups: one to remain in New York, the other to move to a new location just outside of Los Angeles. The LA group would remain active but have their headquarters hidden, if only to avoid some wacked-out supervillain destroying yet another valuable S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
Rather than force apart the group, Nick Fury decided to take volunteers to move out. With Focus leaving the team to work as a "behind-the-scenes" type agent and Zex flat out leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., the group was already a bit tight on resources. Ruby chose to remain in New York, while Rock, Waffleman, and Seth (now calling himself "Ragnarok", in ironic reflection of his new form) decided to head to the West Coast. Ruby was soon joined by many newcomers hired by S.H.I.E.L.D., though she tries to remain in touch with her old teammates. Legari, Rock's girlfriend, also chose to remain behind, since she had her heart set on a college in the area and could not give up her future for what might just be a temporary fling. However, those two also stay in touch.
And so, that is where we're at now. Your characters will be coming into the game just before the West Coast Avengers (their official name) are introduced to the public, and in some form or another you will all be asked to join (I suppose you could refuse, but then your reason for participating in each mission will prove difficult to justify; besides, it's a sweet gig!).
Oh, and again, it has been two years since the Apocalypse War, so tensions over that horrendous ordeal are still a bit high. Mutants have been getting a bad rap for awhile, of course, but they never grew so close to all-out domination as they did with their "father". Keep that in mind if you wish to play a mutant.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. At this point I'm not sure what more I can add until we actually start the game, though if we get around to making your characters I'll add them to the sidebar on this page. Maybe we can do that on the Geekend...
Excelsior!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Chapter 4: Apocalypse
Now, I realize that almost all of us, once in the comic mindset and seeing the title of this post, immediately know to whom I refer. But even those of us who think we know Apocalypse don't really know the Ultimate version of Apocalypse, or at least our version (he just recently showed up in the Ultimate X-Men comic line, but we'll just ignore that, shall we?).
The Apocalypse mission was the last one the Avengers went through, and, boy, was it epic. Not only in the sheer scope of it all, but in the after effects as well. This mission is where we officially diverge from the comics continuity, though we will continue to pick and choose what we like from where the Ultimates line is now going. But from this adventure on out this game is really our own for the taking, with nothing else tying us down.
Anyway, as to what happened...
The mission started out foreboding enough. Every mutant on earth was psychically called by a powerful force to meet in Cairo, Egypt, so that they might finally gaze on their "father". This father proved to be Apocalypse, an incredibly powerful being who claimed to be the first mutant ever born. Not only did he gather an army of mutants to his cause of overthrowing humanity, but he had also appointed four "horsemen" as his generals. Exodus, a powerful psychic, was the Horseman of Death. Hemingway, an enhanced clone of Rock (created when Rock was captured by the Red Skull), was the Horseman of War. Poisonous, a mutant who could control plantlife and, coincidentally, was Zex's murderous uncle, acted as Horseman of Pestilence. And finally, Thunderbird, a mutant who controlled intense flame, was the Horseman of Famine.
Apocalypse literally went to war with the world, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had its hands full trying to hold his forces back. The X-Men, Ultimates, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and European Defense Initiative all played their part in trying to fight the mass mutant army, but Apocalypse only seemed to grow stronger by the day. He even summoned forth a gigantic spaceship, the Oblivion, long buried under the sands of Egypt. The Oblivion sported powerful technology the world had never seen, and laid waste to anyone who stood against it.
Over the course of their adventures, the Avengers gradually learned the truth of Apocalypse's existence, along with his ties to their own party. Indeed he was the first mutant, the result of a genetic experiment conducted millenia ago by a group of highly advanced aliens known as the Celestials. Apocalypse was chosen from a band of traveling nomads in the Egyptian desert to have his DNA forcibly evolved, and at first things seemed to be going beautifully. But the Celestials realized too late that the experiment had gone too well. En Sabah Nur, or the First One as he was called, began evolving far beyond anyone's expectations. He even learned how to transfer his highly-adaptable cells into other organisms, effectively "mutating" them. But since they were mutated by his own cells, Nur maintained a powerful psychic link with those he had enhanced, allowing him to take control whenever he so chose. Though one might think this would place an incredible strain on his mind, instead Nur's brain evolved alongside his body, constantly adapting to accept these new burdens and to bless him with advanced telepathic and telekinetic powers. When En Sabah Nur became violent and overthrew the Pharoah of Egypt, his name was changed to "The End" or, in our current language, "Apocalypse".
The Celestials tried to stop their Frankensteinian creation, but it was too late. Apocalypse slaughtered the crew of the Celestial starship the Tiamat, renaming it the Oblivion and attempting to use it to secure his will. It was only through the actions of one Rama-Tut, a female human general from within Apocalypse's own army yet who remained unaltered by his touch, and the Pharoah's former vizier, Ozymandias, that Apocalypse was overthrown. Rama-Tut and Ozymandias found a weapon known as the Chronal Disruptor aboard the Oblivion, a gun that greatly increased the flow of time for whatever it hit. They used it on Apocalypse, and, though his body was highly adaptable, he had to work overtime just to keep himself from dying of advanced cellular degeneration. Ozymandias placed him in a massive sarcophagus and sealed it with magic. It would only open after one thousand "godtouched" (mutants) had been sacrificed, insuring that the only way Apocalypse could be freed would be if many of his own "children" were killed. Rama-Tut took the throne, and she and Ozymandias fell into historical obscurity.
Those Apocalypse had enhanced gradually faded into the background, though the cells they had inherited from him remained. These cells diluted through the gene pool, and in the modern age when mutants became more common they were rediscovered and named the "X-gene", the genes responsible for mutation. No one knew, at least until Apocalypse returned, that the X-gene was actually his own cells, and it was through these very cells that he was able to commandeer so many mutants to his armies. Those of strong will were still able to fight it, since the effect of the psychic link was diluted, but they were a small number indeed.
Not only did the Avengers learn that Apocalypse was the source of all mutants, but they also learned about the curse that gave Ruby Teer her powers. Ruby, it turned out, was the descendant of Zaladane, a sorceress who served Apocalypse when he came to power in Ancient Egypt. As punishment for her actions, Ozymandias cursed her line to forever "make the pain of others their own", hence Ruby's ability to take the wounds of others. Ruby and her ancestors were also doomed to die when they gave childbirth, meaning they could never have a meaningful relationship for very long.
Ruby, of course, wanted the curse lifted, and came to the belief that if anyone knew how to undo it, it would be Ozymandias' foe, Apocalypse. Luminance (Seth), being deeply in love with her, also sought to end her torment, but no one could have known to what depths he would go to do so.
While exploring the ancient tomb of Rama-Tut, the Avengers found the Chronal Disruptor and hid it from everyone, including S.H.I.E.L.D., for fear of what Fury would do with such a weapon if he ever got his hands on it. But they were determined to face Apocalypse and put an end to his campaign.
The time soon came where Apocalypse, confident in his power, directly assaulted the Triskelion with Oblivion, an army of mutants and commandeered Sentinels. The Avengers, Ultimates, and X-Men fought hard to keep his forces at bay, but in the end they were forced to evacuate. The evacuation was halted, however, by the sheer firepower of the Oblivion, and it was here that Luminance made a fateful decision. Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, he abandoned the escape helicopter and, using his powers to absorb every aspect of light in the area and convert it into a massive shield of energy, managed to hold off the Oblivion long enough for everyone else to escape. Seth couldn't hold the shield forever, though, and was seemingly consumed alongside the Triskelion in a blinding flash of energy.
The Avengers, though saddened, strengthened their resolve at the loss of their teammate, and after crippling the shield that protected the Oblivion finally led a last-ditch attack on Apocalypse's floating base. They pierced through the mutant warlord's defenses, breaking into the main tower of the ship. It was here, though, that Apocalypse revealed one of his cruelest acts. Throughout their adventure the Avengers had killed off his Horsemen, and now En Sabah Nur sought to replace his fallen generals. He revealed to them his new Horseman of Death: Eclipse, a reborn Seth DeSavre, whose powers had been twisted from mastery and control of light to mastery and control of darkness.
Eclipse fought the Avengers, but it was finally through Ruby's voice that he was made to see reason and recovered his mind from Apocalypse's hold. When the Avengers finally confronted the immortal mutant, however, Apocalypse made a move to kill Ruby. Seth pushed her out of the way of a flying spear, which instead skewered him, but not before he inacted a strange exchange of energy with her. Ruby tried to take on his wounds so that she might heal them for him, but to her despair she could not. It was then that Seth revealed he had, during the bizarre "exchange", taken her curse upon himself. He had learned from Apocalypse that only one enhanced by the monster's touch could take on the curse, and so he had willingly given himself over to be remade as Eclipse, if only so he could finally free her.
As he lay dying, Seth also revealed that he had "picked up a few tricks" from Apocalypse, namely the ability to transfer one's genetic abilities to others. Seth was able to instill everyone on the team with temporary accelerated healing factors, and transferred the rest of his light manipulation powers to Ruby, replacing the cursed abilities she had lost. After this exchange took place, Ruby kissed him, and Seth died in her arms.
The Avengers went on to face Apocalypse, and the battle that resulted was truly a tour de force. They used the Chronal Disruptor on the mutant, but Apocalypse proved more than ready for that trick. Though his body still had trouble dealing with the quick advance of time, he had learned from his loss in the past, and knew how to manage his cellular structure to at least give him a fighting chance. During the fight, however, Waffleman was forced to remove his amulet, and it was then that Apocalypse learned that Waffleman's body was a gateway to all other realities. Apocalypse revealed to the Avengers that his plan was not to lead mutants to rule over humans, but rather to wipe the planet clean of life and inject his cells into every organism that would then evolve. Apocalypse did not wish to rule all life. He wished to be all life. But why bother with a planet, if he could use Waffleman to reach out to all forms of existence, everywhere?
Waffleman fled, and Apocalypse took chase through New York even as Waffleman's ever-growing reality distortion effectively destroyed the Oblivion. New York itself began changing erratically as the dimensional nexus grew nigh uncontrollable, and only the timely intervention of Dr. Strange, Sr. kept the Avengers from transforming into bizarre new organisms. Apocalypse himself proved immune to such reality distortion. The Avengers fought hard against the father of all mutants, and in the end Apocalypse was sucked into a dimensional black hole from whence there was no escape. Waffleman recovered his amulet, and quickly began flying around fixing all the unreality that still afflicted New York.
In the papers, the Avengers were labeled as heroes, and Apocalypse listed as officially dead. The team had suffered casualties, no doubt, but the world was safe again. The mutants under Apocalypse's banner were either arrested or went into hiding. The Ultimates, concerned with how the rest of the world viewed them, decided to go independant, leaving official S.H.I.E.L.D. business to the Avengers. Everything seemed to be going back to normal.
Until Seth DeSavre showed up, alive and well. Or, at least, alive.
Next post I'll go into what happened to Seth and the others, and the changes that have occurred in the two years since what is now known as "The Apocalypse War". Yes, our game takes place two years after this massive event!
The Apocalypse mission was the last one the Avengers went through, and, boy, was it epic. Not only in the sheer scope of it all, but in the after effects as well. This mission is where we officially diverge from the comics continuity, though we will continue to pick and choose what we like from where the Ultimates line is now going. But from this adventure on out this game is really our own for the taking, with nothing else tying us down.
Anyway, as to what happened...
The mission started out foreboding enough. Every mutant on earth was psychically called by a powerful force to meet in Cairo, Egypt, so that they might finally gaze on their "father". This father proved to be Apocalypse, an incredibly powerful being who claimed to be the first mutant ever born. Not only did he gather an army of mutants to his cause of overthrowing humanity, but he had also appointed four "horsemen" as his generals. Exodus, a powerful psychic, was the Horseman of Death. Hemingway, an enhanced clone of Rock (created when Rock was captured by the Red Skull), was the Horseman of War. Poisonous, a mutant who could control plantlife and, coincidentally, was Zex's murderous uncle, acted as Horseman of Pestilence. And finally, Thunderbird, a mutant who controlled intense flame, was the Horseman of Famine.
Apocalypse literally went to war with the world, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had its hands full trying to hold his forces back. The X-Men, Ultimates, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and European Defense Initiative all played their part in trying to fight the mass mutant army, but Apocalypse only seemed to grow stronger by the day. He even summoned forth a gigantic spaceship, the Oblivion, long buried under the sands of Egypt. The Oblivion sported powerful technology the world had never seen, and laid waste to anyone who stood against it.
Over the course of their adventures, the Avengers gradually learned the truth of Apocalypse's existence, along with his ties to their own party. Indeed he was the first mutant, the result of a genetic experiment conducted millenia ago by a group of highly advanced aliens known as the Celestials. Apocalypse was chosen from a band of traveling nomads in the Egyptian desert to have his DNA forcibly evolved, and at first things seemed to be going beautifully. But the Celestials realized too late that the experiment had gone too well. En Sabah Nur, or the First One as he was called, began evolving far beyond anyone's expectations. He even learned how to transfer his highly-adaptable cells into other organisms, effectively "mutating" them. But since they were mutated by his own cells, Nur maintained a powerful psychic link with those he had enhanced, allowing him to take control whenever he so chose. Though one might think this would place an incredible strain on his mind, instead Nur's brain evolved alongside his body, constantly adapting to accept these new burdens and to bless him with advanced telepathic and telekinetic powers. When En Sabah Nur became violent and overthrew the Pharoah of Egypt, his name was changed to "The End" or, in our current language, "Apocalypse".
The Celestials tried to stop their Frankensteinian creation, but it was too late. Apocalypse slaughtered the crew of the Celestial starship the Tiamat, renaming it the Oblivion and attempting to use it to secure his will. It was only through the actions of one Rama-Tut, a female human general from within Apocalypse's own army yet who remained unaltered by his touch, and the Pharoah's former vizier, Ozymandias, that Apocalypse was overthrown. Rama-Tut and Ozymandias found a weapon known as the Chronal Disruptor aboard the Oblivion, a gun that greatly increased the flow of time for whatever it hit. They used it on Apocalypse, and, though his body was highly adaptable, he had to work overtime just to keep himself from dying of advanced cellular degeneration. Ozymandias placed him in a massive sarcophagus and sealed it with magic. It would only open after one thousand "godtouched" (mutants) had been sacrificed, insuring that the only way Apocalypse could be freed would be if many of his own "children" were killed. Rama-Tut took the throne, and she and Ozymandias fell into historical obscurity.
Those Apocalypse had enhanced gradually faded into the background, though the cells they had inherited from him remained. These cells diluted through the gene pool, and in the modern age when mutants became more common they were rediscovered and named the "X-gene", the genes responsible for mutation. No one knew, at least until Apocalypse returned, that the X-gene was actually his own cells, and it was through these very cells that he was able to commandeer so many mutants to his armies. Those of strong will were still able to fight it, since the effect of the psychic link was diluted, but they were a small number indeed.
Not only did the Avengers learn that Apocalypse was the source of all mutants, but they also learned about the curse that gave Ruby Teer her powers. Ruby, it turned out, was the descendant of Zaladane, a sorceress who served Apocalypse when he came to power in Ancient Egypt. As punishment for her actions, Ozymandias cursed her line to forever "make the pain of others their own", hence Ruby's ability to take the wounds of others. Ruby and her ancestors were also doomed to die when they gave childbirth, meaning they could never have a meaningful relationship for very long.
Ruby, of course, wanted the curse lifted, and came to the belief that if anyone knew how to undo it, it would be Ozymandias' foe, Apocalypse. Luminance (Seth), being deeply in love with her, also sought to end her torment, but no one could have known to what depths he would go to do so.
While exploring the ancient tomb of Rama-Tut, the Avengers found the Chronal Disruptor and hid it from everyone, including S.H.I.E.L.D., for fear of what Fury would do with such a weapon if he ever got his hands on it. But they were determined to face Apocalypse and put an end to his campaign.
The time soon came where Apocalypse, confident in his power, directly assaulted the Triskelion with Oblivion, an army of mutants and commandeered Sentinels. The Avengers, Ultimates, and X-Men fought hard to keep his forces at bay, but in the end they were forced to evacuate. The evacuation was halted, however, by the sheer firepower of the Oblivion, and it was here that Luminance made a fateful decision. Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, he abandoned the escape helicopter and, using his powers to absorb every aspect of light in the area and convert it into a massive shield of energy, managed to hold off the Oblivion long enough for everyone else to escape. Seth couldn't hold the shield forever, though, and was seemingly consumed alongside the Triskelion in a blinding flash of energy.
The Avengers, though saddened, strengthened their resolve at the loss of their teammate, and after crippling the shield that protected the Oblivion finally led a last-ditch attack on Apocalypse's floating base. They pierced through the mutant warlord's defenses, breaking into the main tower of the ship. It was here, though, that Apocalypse revealed one of his cruelest acts. Throughout their adventure the Avengers had killed off his Horsemen, and now En Sabah Nur sought to replace his fallen generals. He revealed to them his new Horseman of Death: Eclipse, a reborn Seth DeSavre, whose powers had been twisted from mastery and control of light to mastery and control of darkness.
Eclipse fought the Avengers, but it was finally through Ruby's voice that he was made to see reason and recovered his mind from Apocalypse's hold. When the Avengers finally confronted the immortal mutant, however, Apocalypse made a move to kill Ruby. Seth pushed her out of the way of a flying spear, which instead skewered him, but not before he inacted a strange exchange of energy with her. Ruby tried to take on his wounds so that she might heal them for him, but to her despair she could not. It was then that Seth revealed he had, during the bizarre "exchange", taken her curse upon himself. He had learned from Apocalypse that only one enhanced by the monster's touch could take on the curse, and so he had willingly given himself over to be remade as Eclipse, if only so he could finally free her.
As he lay dying, Seth also revealed that he had "picked up a few tricks" from Apocalypse, namely the ability to transfer one's genetic abilities to others. Seth was able to instill everyone on the team with temporary accelerated healing factors, and transferred the rest of his light manipulation powers to Ruby, replacing the cursed abilities she had lost. After this exchange took place, Ruby kissed him, and Seth died in her arms.
The Avengers went on to face Apocalypse, and the battle that resulted was truly a tour de force. They used the Chronal Disruptor on the mutant, but Apocalypse proved more than ready for that trick. Though his body still had trouble dealing with the quick advance of time, he had learned from his loss in the past, and knew how to manage his cellular structure to at least give him a fighting chance. During the fight, however, Waffleman was forced to remove his amulet, and it was then that Apocalypse learned that Waffleman's body was a gateway to all other realities. Apocalypse revealed to the Avengers that his plan was not to lead mutants to rule over humans, but rather to wipe the planet clean of life and inject his cells into every organism that would then evolve. Apocalypse did not wish to rule all life. He wished to be all life. But why bother with a planet, if he could use Waffleman to reach out to all forms of existence, everywhere?
Waffleman fled, and Apocalypse took chase through New York even as Waffleman's ever-growing reality distortion effectively destroyed the Oblivion. New York itself began changing erratically as the dimensional nexus grew nigh uncontrollable, and only the timely intervention of Dr. Strange, Sr. kept the Avengers from transforming into bizarre new organisms. Apocalypse himself proved immune to such reality distortion. The Avengers fought hard against the father of all mutants, and in the end Apocalypse was sucked into a dimensional black hole from whence there was no escape. Waffleman recovered his amulet, and quickly began flying around fixing all the unreality that still afflicted New York.
In the papers, the Avengers were labeled as heroes, and Apocalypse listed as officially dead. The team had suffered casualties, no doubt, but the world was safe again. The mutants under Apocalypse's banner were either arrested or went into hiding. The Ultimates, concerned with how the rest of the world viewed them, decided to go independant, leaving official S.H.I.E.L.D. business to the Avengers. Everything seemed to be going back to normal.
Until Seth DeSavre showed up, alive and well. Or, at least, alive.
Next post I'll go into what happened to Seth and the others, and the changes that have occurred in the two years since what is now known as "The Apocalypse War". Yes, our game takes place two years after this massive event!
Chapter 3: Ground Control
Behind every good government-appointed superhero team is a government-appointed back-up crew, and the Avengers are no different. Though these supporting characters rarely or, in most cases, never show up on the battlefield, they are no less an integral part of the team.
Nick Fury. The man himself. Leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. and in some ways the most powerful military commander in the world. He is the sheriff of the super powered community, so you don't want to get on his bad side. As far as personality goes, he's basically Samuel L. Jackson with an eye patch. He tries to help wherever he can, but his responsibilities are vast, so don't expect him to be able to answer your every beck and call. In the grand scheme of things he is the Avengers' boss, but he's also responsible for the Ultimates. Now that the Ultimates have gone independent, however...well, we'll get to that when we get to it.
Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan is technically the Avengers' new supervisor, since Fury's been finding it difficult to manage so much at once. An old army buddy of Fury's, Dugan is one mean S.O.B., but he means well in all he does. He used to be the head of the Mutant Ops Division of S.H.I.E.L.D., but was reassigned to the Avengers after they proved how important they were to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s causes. Dugan and Mr. Ball developed an odd yet strong friendship before Mr. Ball returned to his home dimension. Mr. Ball even made a "Dugan mask" that he wore when he wished to cheer up the bitter old cuss. It made Dum Dum laugh every time.
Professor Arturo is the team's science expert. For those of you who've seen Sliders, yes, it is that Professor Arturo. It's our game, we can use who we want, and who better for a scientist than John Rys-Davies? Either way, Arturo is usually in contact via S.H.I.E.L.D. communicator, ready to answer any questions the team may have. He is an expert not only with various forms of technology (he's even taught Seth DeSavre a thing or two), but he is also well versed in history and ancient cultures.
Deep 13 is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ultra top-secret paranormal research division. Headed under Dr. Strange, Sr., it is Deep 13's responsibility to ensure that the existence of magic and the paranormal does not become common knowledge. Dr. Strange has even been forced to spread internet rumors that his son, Dr. Strange, Jr., is a mutant rather than a burdgeoning sorcerer. Members of the group include Strange himself, a demon known as Hellboy, the cyborg M.U.R.P.H.Y., the mysterious Shadow, and the impish Jack the Giant Killer. Storm Crow was also a member.
Sandra "Legari" Jones is a reserve member of the Avengers, as well as being Rock's on again, off again girlfriend. She is a mutant who is able to induce nausea in others, a power she is still trying to develop. In the past she has voiced the desire to join the Avengers, but Rock has so far voiced nothing but disapproval, mostly for fear of her safety. Nevertheless, she is currently being trained by S.H.I.E.L.D. for possibly just that, whether Rock likes it or not.
When we get into the game itself, Waffleman has informed me of other support personnel he would like to introduce, but that will be part of his first mission, so I have no plans to spoil anything here (plus, I plain old forgot who they were). These folk here are the ones we've encountered so far, so anything after this will be new to me as well.
For the next (and possibly final post for awhile), I'll go into detail about the Avengers' last big mission, which changed everything we knew and which sets the stage for where our game will be picking up, whenever we get to it.
Nick Fury. The man himself. Leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. and in some ways the most powerful military commander in the world. He is the sheriff of the super powered community, so you don't want to get on his bad side. As far as personality goes, he's basically Samuel L. Jackson with an eye patch. He tries to help wherever he can, but his responsibilities are vast, so don't expect him to be able to answer your every beck and call. In the grand scheme of things he is the Avengers' boss, but he's also responsible for the Ultimates. Now that the Ultimates have gone independent, however...well, we'll get to that when we get to it.
Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan is technically the Avengers' new supervisor, since Fury's been finding it difficult to manage so much at once. An old army buddy of Fury's, Dugan is one mean S.O.B., but he means well in all he does. He used to be the head of the Mutant Ops Division of S.H.I.E.L.D., but was reassigned to the Avengers after they proved how important they were to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s causes. Dugan and Mr. Ball developed an odd yet strong friendship before Mr. Ball returned to his home dimension. Mr. Ball even made a "Dugan mask" that he wore when he wished to cheer up the bitter old cuss. It made Dum Dum laugh every time.
Professor Arturo is the team's science expert. For those of you who've seen Sliders, yes, it is that Professor Arturo. It's our game, we can use who we want, and who better for a scientist than John Rys-Davies? Either way, Arturo is usually in contact via S.H.I.E.L.D. communicator, ready to answer any questions the team may have. He is an expert not only with various forms of technology (he's even taught Seth DeSavre a thing or two), but he is also well versed in history and ancient cultures.
Deep 13 is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ultra top-secret paranormal research division. Headed under Dr. Strange, Sr., it is Deep 13's responsibility to ensure that the existence of magic and the paranormal does not become common knowledge. Dr. Strange has even been forced to spread internet rumors that his son, Dr. Strange, Jr., is a mutant rather than a burdgeoning sorcerer. Members of the group include Strange himself, a demon known as Hellboy, the cyborg M.U.R.P.H.Y., the mysterious Shadow, and the impish Jack the Giant Killer. Storm Crow was also a member.
Sandra "Legari" Jones is a reserve member of the Avengers, as well as being Rock's on again, off again girlfriend. She is a mutant who is able to induce nausea in others, a power she is still trying to develop. In the past she has voiced the desire to join the Avengers, but Rock has so far voiced nothing but disapproval, mostly for fear of her safety. Nevertheless, she is currently being trained by S.H.I.E.L.D. for possibly just that, whether Rock likes it or not.
When we get into the game itself, Waffleman has informed me of other support personnel he would like to introduce, but that will be part of his first mission, so I have no plans to spoil anything here (plus, I plain old forgot who they were). These folk here are the ones we've encountered so far, so anything after this will be new to me as well.
For the next (and possibly final post for awhile), I'll go into detail about the Avengers' last big mission, which changed everything we knew and which sets the stage for where our game will be picking up, whenever we get to it.
Chapter 2: Seriously, Why Did We Hire These People?
When we started this game, there were three members of the as-yet-unnamed superhero group, and none of them seemed to be all that heroic. There was Focus, a psychic soldier of S.H.I.E.L.D. whose lack of leadership and social skills made one question how in God's name he ever received the rank of Captain; there was Rock, a mutant teenager who was technically too young to be part of any military organization, but the fact that his mutation made him almost impervious to harm (especially when he grew angry) somehow got him around this loophole; and Waffleman, a bizarre, otherworldly human(?) who exhibited an almost alarming lack of restraint and/or common sense.
At first these three were just there for training, but after a successful mission or two Nick Fury decided they were fit enough to become their own squad under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s banner. The group chose the name "The Avengers", though they were never quite sure what it was exactly that they were avenging. But somehow they made it work, and the Avengers quickly became a staple of S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, what started as what many called the "B-Squad" soon proved themselves capable of completing missions even the Ultimates had trouble with, such as when a terrorist group lead by an al Qaida agent known as the Red Skull took control of the Triskelion, the massive complex that serves as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters. But the adventures of the past might not come into play too much (at least at first), so I'm going to go back to the current and former members of the Avengers.
Of the inital three, Rock and Waffleman remain. Focus decided to retire from the adventuring life to tend to his family, so he won't be joining us in the game (though he may make a cameo or two as an NPC).
Rock, as I said before, is a teenage mutant. His real name is Brock Heller. His power is similar to the Hulk's, though rather than grow stronger the madder he gets he instead gets "tougher". In other words, he begins any fight already practically bulletproof, but the longer he fights the more resistant to harm he becomes, until finally you just simply can't hurt him from the outside (he is still weak to mental/psychic attacks). He is also superhumanly strong and can grow in size to 20 feet tall, increasing his power but making it difficult to fight in cramped spaces. Though young, he has grown as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and has been through some very traumatic experiences. Chief among these was when he was captured and brainwashed by the Red Skull to attack his teammates, though it was eventually learned that his mind was "transmitted" into a robotic body so that, should said body be destroyed, his captors would not lose the original. Rock seemingly sacrificed himself to save millions of lives, but thankfully this sacrifice was actually his robotic shell.
If that was confusing, fear not: it is. The fact that this happened to Rock, yet he's still a fairly happy-go-lucky guy, should be a testament to his strength of character.
Waffleman, on the other hand, is a poster child for confusion. First off, you need to understand that there have so far been two different Wafflemen that have served on the Avengers, both from other dimensions. Technically, however, we've run into a whole mess of Wafflemen from various dimensions, and every single one of them tends to be a little on the crazy side. One thing remains the same, though: they all possess a bizarre, alien amulet. For some, this amulet is the source of their powers, and this was the case for the first Waffleman who was a part of the group. For others, the amulet keeps their power in check, which is the case for the second Waffleman. Confused yet? Wait, it gets worse.
The first Waffleman was physically changed by the atmosphere of our dimension, and he became a different hero altogether named Vector. Vector's body radiated energy, and though he could focus this into powerful energy blasts he had to wear a suit to keep it from simply destroying everything in sight. Vector eventually left for dimensions unknown, which did help simplify the Waffleman dilemma...somewhat.
The second Waffleman, however, is just plain bat-guano crazy. Under normal conditions (normal for him, anyway), he claims his real name is Rockstar McBangarang, but when wearing a power dampener (the only thing that seems to help him "think clearly") he responds to the name Oswald "Ozzie" Dios. As the player of Waffleman has informed me, it's not that he's insane, but rather he "can't filter his thoughts". In other words, every possible thought he could have at any given time is indeed flying through his head, and having to filter through these is what gives him the appearance of insanity. Many a time has S.H.I.E.L.D. questioned why they allow Waffleman to be in active service at all, but then the GM on high says "Because he's a Player" and all military logic is abandoned for the good of the game.
Waffleman's powers are just as random as he is. He can fly, heal quickly like Wolverine, and charge any object into an explosive (a la Gambit). His most versatile power, however, is what he calls "Pocket Universe". Through a whole slew of psuedo-science I couldn't even begin to explain, Waffleman's body was transformed into some kind of dimensional nexus, making him a gateway to pretty much every other plane of reality. The only thing keeping this nexus from sucking in everything around it is his amulet (the whole "containing his powers" thing). When he removes the amulet, the nexus grows, mixing our dimension with pretty much every other one out there and, in general, making crazy random things happen. While wearing the amulet, Waffleman can control and direct this "weirdness" into pretty much any effect he wants, though not to the degree that it would work were he to just abandon the amulet. This "being a nexus" thing is undoubtedly what causes his bizarre thought patterns, and just adds to the strangeness of his existence. If you need and/or want a better explanation, you're best to just ask Waffleman himself.
Now, there have been other members of the Avengers that have come and gone, and though they may not become an important part of our game I feel I should at least mention them, if only to give you some frame of reference.
Chief among these was Zex, a mutant whose only real power was a "danger sense" (i.e. Spider-sense) and some enhanced physical attributes. However, he was also a highly-skilled ninja, and in fact the best combatant on the team. Just before he left he was promoted to Captain and effective team leader of the Avengers, though he decided to retire in favor of teaching his own martial arts school. He is technically now listed as "reserve member", meaning he might return to action if the situation calls for it. But most of his demons have been put to rest, and his call to adventure has grown quiet in recent years.
Next came Ravir, Focus' sister. She was an expert thief who could teleport and drain the energy of others. When S.H.I.E.L.D. became an international organization (in our game, not the Ultimate continuity, so don't go trying to wiki it), she left to join S.H.I.E.L.D.'s branch in Japan.
Voltage is Focus' wife. She was never technically a member, though she did help the team when the Red Skull took over the Triskelion. She is now concerned with her and Focus' son, Able.
Mr. Ball is, as far as I'm concerned, in the running alongside Waffleman for "strangest member of the Avengers". Mr. Ball, or "Catball" as some of us came to call him, was an anthropomorphic cat from another dimension. He was immensely obese for a cat (hence, ball-shaped), though this seemed to be in stark defiance to the tiny wings on his back that, somehow, actually worked. In fact, since Mr. Ball's limbs were so tiny in comparison to the rest of him, he usually preferred flying to walking. His main abilities came from the fact that he was an accomplished sorcerer, though he also possessed a sonic "caterwauling" attack, some tranquilizer darts (we're still not sure quite how he could throw them with his stubby little arms), and some magic sake. Yes, you read that right. Magic sake. Ask Waffleman, he had some.
Dancing Crow was another magic-user, though his abilities were more specific. A Native American shaman, Dancing Crow could commune with the dead and speak telepathically, as well as command some of the elements. He could not, however, actually speak, hence his mind-related communication upset its share of people. He did not stay with the Avengers long, only playing a role in their final mission before going back into hiding, mostly due to the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. does not want the public at large to know that magic exists. Mutants, robots, and superpowered fiends are already enough trouble, but tell them that someone can just "learn" how to reshape reality? Forget it. It would be all-out panic.
Ruby Teer was a woman whose powers actually came from a curse. She was able to take on the wounds of others and then heal herself quickly, as well as manipulate the emotions of others. The truth of her curse and its origin came to light in the last mission the Avengers took part in, which I will describe in greater detail in a future post, as it does have much to do with the current state of things.
And, finally, we have Seth DeSavre, formerly known as Luminance. He is still an active member of the Avengers (he's my character, actually), and will be playing a fairly large role in the game. Seth was born a mutant, and when his powers to control and manipulate light, as well as exist as light himself, developed he accidentally killed one of his classmates. Distraught and shunned by his friends and family, he was taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D. and made a member of the Avengers, serving alongside them with a happy-go-lucky attitude that hid the pain of his past. The Avengers soon became his new family, and he even fell in love with Ruby Teer. This love, unfortunately, would prove to cost him a great deal as well as change him in ways no one could have suspected. But that story ties into the Avengers' last official mission, and that is a story that deserves a post all its own.
In the meantime, for the next post, I will try to detail some of the folks who work with the Avengers from behind the scenes. There aren't a whole lot of them, but they do play some important roles, and chances are you will run into them yourselves in the course of our game.
At first these three were just there for training, but after a successful mission or two Nick Fury decided they were fit enough to become their own squad under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s banner. The group chose the name "The Avengers", though they were never quite sure what it was exactly that they were avenging. But somehow they made it work, and the Avengers quickly became a staple of S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, what started as what many called the "B-Squad" soon proved themselves capable of completing missions even the Ultimates had trouble with, such as when a terrorist group lead by an al Qaida agent known as the Red Skull took control of the Triskelion, the massive complex that serves as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters. But the adventures of the past might not come into play too much (at least at first), so I'm going to go back to the current and former members of the Avengers.
Of the inital three, Rock and Waffleman remain. Focus decided to retire from the adventuring life to tend to his family, so he won't be joining us in the game (though he may make a cameo or two as an NPC).
Rock, as I said before, is a teenage mutant. His real name is Brock Heller. His power is similar to the Hulk's, though rather than grow stronger the madder he gets he instead gets "tougher". In other words, he begins any fight already practically bulletproof, but the longer he fights the more resistant to harm he becomes, until finally you just simply can't hurt him from the outside (he is still weak to mental/psychic attacks). He is also superhumanly strong and can grow in size to 20 feet tall, increasing his power but making it difficult to fight in cramped spaces. Though young, he has grown as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and has been through some very traumatic experiences. Chief among these was when he was captured and brainwashed by the Red Skull to attack his teammates, though it was eventually learned that his mind was "transmitted" into a robotic body so that, should said body be destroyed, his captors would not lose the original. Rock seemingly sacrificed himself to save millions of lives, but thankfully this sacrifice was actually his robotic shell.
If that was confusing, fear not: it is. The fact that this happened to Rock, yet he's still a fairly happy-go-lucky guy, should be a testament to his strength of character.
Waffleman, on the other hand, is a poster child for confusion. First off, you need to understand that there have so far been two different Wafflemen that have served on the Avengers, both from other dimensions. Technically, however, we've run into a whole mess of Wafflemen from various dimensions, and every single one of them tends to be a little on the crazy side. One thing remains the same, though: they all possess a bizarre, alien amulet. For some, this amulet is the source of their powers, and this was the case for the first Waffleman who was a part of the group. For others, the amulet keeps their power in check, which is the case for the second Waffleman. Confused yet? Wait, it gets worse.
The first Waffleman was physically changed by the atmosphere of our dimension, and he became a different hero altogether named Vector. Vector's body radiated energy, and though he could focus this into powerful energy blasts he had to wear a suit to keep it from simply destroying everything in sight. Vector eventually left for dimensions unknown, which did help simplify the Waffleman dilemma...somewhat.
The second Waffleman, however, is just plain bat-guano crazy. Under normal conditions (normal for him, anyway), he claims his real name is Rockstar McBangarang, but when wearing a power dampener (the only thing that seems to help him "think clearly") he responds to the name Oswald "Ozzie" Dios. As the player of Waffleman has informed me, it's not that he's insane, but rather he "can't filter his thoughts". In other words, every possible thought he could have at any given time is indeed flying through his head, and having to filter through these is what gives him the appearance of insanity. Many a time has S.H.I.E.L.D. questioned why they allow Waffleman to be in active service at all, but then the GM on high says "Because he's a Player" and all military logic is abandoned for the good of the game.
Waffleman's powers are just as random as he is. He can fly, heal quickly like Wolverine, and charge any object into an explosive (a la Gambit). His most versatile power, however, is what he calls "Pocket Universe". Through a whole slew of psuedo-science I couldn't even begin to explain, Waffleman's body was transformed into some kind of dimensional nexus, making him a gateway to pretty much every other plane of reality. The only thing keeping this nexus from sucking in everything around it is his amulet (the whole "containing his powers" thing). When he removes the amulet, the nexus grows, mixing our dimension with pretty much every other one out there and, in general, making crazy random things happen. While wearing the amulet, Waffleman can control and direct this "weirdness" into pretty much any effect he wants, though not to the degree that it would work were he to just abandon the amulet. This "being a nexus" thing is undoubtedly what causes his bizarre thought patterns, and just adds to the strangeness of his existence. If you need and/or want a better explanation, you're best to just ask Waffleman himself.
Now, there have been other members of the Avengers that have come and gone, and though they may not become an important part of our game I feel I should at least mention them, if only to give you some frame of reference.
Chief among these was Zex, a mutant whose only real power was a "danger sense" (i.e. Spider-sense) and some enhanced physical attributes. However, he was also a highly-skilled ninja, and in fact the best combatant on the team. Just before he left he was promoted to Captain and effective team leader of the Avengers, though he decided to retire in favor of teaching his own martial arts school. He is technically now listed as "reserve member", meaning he might return to action if the situation calls for it. But most of his demons have been put to rest, and his call to adventure has grown quiet in recent years.
Next came Ravir, Focus' sister. She was an expert thief who could teleport and drain the energy of others. When S.H.I.E.L.D. became an international organization (in our game, not the Ultimate continuity, so don't go trying to wiki it), she left to join S.H.I.E.L.D.'s branch in Japan.
Voltage is Focus' wife. She was never technically a member, though she did help the team when the Red Skull took over the Triskelion. She is now concerned with her and Focus' son, Able.
Mr. Ball is, as far as I'm concerned, in the running alongside Waffleman for "strangest member of the Avengers". Mr. Ball, or "Catball" as some of us came to call him, was an anthropomorphic cat from another dimension. He was immensely obese for a cat (hence, ball-shaped), though this seemed to be in stark defiance to the tiny wings on his back that, somehow, actually worked. In fact, since Mr. Ball's limbs were so tiny in comparison to the rest of him, he usually preferred flying to walking. His main abilities came from the fact that he was an accomplished sorcerer, though he also possessed a sonic "caterwauling" attack, some tranquilizer darts (we're still not sure quite how he could throw them with his stubby little arms), and some magic sake. Yes, you read that right. Magic sake. Ask Waffleman, he had some.
Dancing Crow was another magic-user, though his abilities were more specific. A Native American shaman, Dancing Crow could commune with the dead and speak telepathically, as well as command some of the elements. He could not, however, actually speak, hence his mind-related communication upset its share of people. He did not stay with the Avengers long, only playing a role in their final mission before going back into hiding, mostly due to the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. does not want the public at large to know that magic exists. Mutants, robots, and superpowered fiends are already enough trouble, but tell them that someone can just "learn" how to reshape reality? Forget it. It would be all-out panic.
Ruby Teer was a woman whose powers actually came from a curse. She was able to take on the wounds of others and then heal herself quickly, as well as manipulate the emotions of others. The truth of her curse and its origin came to light in the last mission the Avengers took part in, which I will describe in greater detail in a future post, as it does have much to do with the current state of things.
And, finally, we have Seth DeSavre, formerly known as Luminance. He is still an active member of the Avengers (he's my character, actually), and will be playing a fairly large role in the game. Seth was born a mutant, and when his powers to control and manipulate light, as well as exist as light himself, developed he accidentally killed one of his classmates. Distraught and shunned by his friends and family, he was taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D. and made a member of the Avengers, serving alongside them with a happy-go-lucky attitude that hid the pain of his past. The Avengers soon became his new family, and he even fell in love with Ruby Teer. This love, unfortunately, would prove to cost him a great deal as well as change him in ways no one could have suspected. But that story ties into the Avengers' last official mission, and that is a story that deserves a post all its own.
In the meantime, for the next post, I will try to detail some of the folks who work with the Avengers from behind the scenes. There aren't a whole lot of them, but they do play some important roles, and chances are you will run into them yourselves in the course of our game.
Chapter 1: Captain America, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Tampering With Genetics
The Ultimate Universe technically has two "beginnings", i.e. two different sparks/events that got the ball rolling for everything else. The first was the advent of the Super Soldier Serum and its first and only success, Captain America, during World War II. Those of you familiar with Cap, it's the same story as before. Those of you who aren't, here it is: Captain America is Steven Rogers, a young man who had a lot of gung-ho to join the Army but didn't meet the physical prerequisites. Rather than turn him away, the government allowed him to volunteer to be a guinea pig for the Super Soldier Serum, a formula that would turn him into, um, yeah...a super soldier. Stronger, faster, more durable than a normal person - this is what the serum turned Steve Rogers into. Alas, the Nazis had secret agents everywhere, and the scientist responsible for the serum was killed before it could be mass produced, his notes burned by those very Nazis. Hence, the secret to the serum was lost forever, save locked away in Steve Rogers' DNA. But, as fate would have it, Captain America was lost in a high-risk mission, and seemingly killed just before the war's end.
However, the fact that Captain America even existed drove the powers that be to try and recreate the process. The race to rediscover the secret of the Super Soldier Serum, or at least something close to it, has had a domino effect throughout the Ultimate Universe. Numerous scientists, conglomerates, research laboratories and seemingly every nerd with an at-home chemistry set has been working throughout the years to develop their own Serum, with various effects, both positive and negative. It really has become a genetic arms race, and even nuclear weapons have been placed on the backburner next to the concept of each nation having its own Captain America.
The race for the Serum has inadvertantly created many of the superheroes in the Ultimate Universe. As I mentioned before, the Hulk is perhaps the greatest tragedy/triumph in pursuit of this now legendary elixir. Some folks have neglected the Serum in favor of other ways of genetic enhancement, such as Dr. Henry Pym and his "Pym Particles", which allow one to grow to gigantic sizes. Tony Stark has turned to technology, creating the Iron Man suit which serves as a one-man army (though it needs an army of technicians to get off the ground).
Spider-Man is also a product of this very race, though through accidental means. Norman Osborn, owner and operator of Oscorp Industries, developed a miracle drug called "Oz". One of many guinea pigs used by Oscorp in the testing of Oz was a spider, which escaped from its cage and found and promptly bit a young teenager named Peter Parker. The Oz, mixed with the spider's venom, gave Parker his powers. Osborn was aware of this sudden mutation, and decided to try injecting himself with Oz. Unfortunately, the Oz by itself only served to transform Osborn into a giant, green-skinned monster, now affectionately known as "The Green Goblin". Accidents with Oz have also created Dr. Octopus and the Hobgoblin.
Now, before I continue and get some of you majorly confused, I need to tell you about the other "spark" for the Ultimate Universe, and that spark is the recent and rampant emergent of mutants. If you know the X-Men, you know what I mean, but for those who might not a mutant is someone born with special powers, seemingly the "next step" in human evolution. Recently mutants have been showing up by the hundreds, and the fact that so many people with super powers are suddenly here has sent most of the public into all-out panic. The most frightening of these newcomers is undoubtedly Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants, a group of mutant terrorists bent on conquering the planet. The government's knee jerk reaction was the Sentinel program, which employed giant robots called Sentinels to "keep the peace", but this only proved to add to the carnage. Some idealistic mutants ran to the banner of Professor Charles Xavier, who gathered them as a defensive fighting force known as the X-Men. The X-Men indeed saved Washington D.C. from one of Magneto's most prolific attacks, and henceforth have had a begrudging relationship with the American government.
But Magneto's assault on the capitol of the country had far greater consequences than scaring some homo sapiens silly. It was a signal to the government that action was called for. So, the powers that be chose General Nicholas Fury, an African-American military man with an impeccable record for getting the job done, to take charge of S.H.I.E.L.D., a new military establishment that would specialize in policing superpowered individuals. Nick Fury's first initiative was the creation of his own group of superpowered individuals, codenamed "The Ultimates". He hired Tony Stark (Iron Man), Dr. Henry Pym (Giant Man), Henry's wife Janet Pym (The Wasp, secretly a mutant whose DNA Henry used to develop his own Pym Particles), Dr. Bruce Banner (whose emergence as the Hulk ended up causing more harm than good), Thor (who really is the god of Norse mythology but everyone else just assumes is a crazy man with weapons of incredible power), and, in a twist we all saw coming, Captain America.
Cap, it turns out (and if you've heard this before, forgive me; I'm trying to cover all the bases), didn't die, but was frozen in the waters of the Arctic Ocean. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the Super Soldier Serum, maybe a combination of the two, who knows, but somehow Cap was frozen in suspended animation, not aging a day since his last mission back in WWII. Now once again awake and ready for action, Captain America took the position of team leader for the Ultimates.
So, Nick Fury had his team, and they worked just as you would suspect a police force of super people would act: they were pricks. Well, now, that might be a bit harsh, but honestly, the Ultimates simply follow the law and Fury's orders without much protestation. S.H.I.E.L.D. even started sending them overseas to disarm and pacify whole countries. Obviously, this didn't go over so well with the rest of the world. S.H.I.E.L.D. was an American institution, and the fact that the ol' US of A had such tremendous power at their beck and call upset a lot of people.
And that's pretty much where it's at right now.
There's a few other things I could cover, like how the Fantastic Four came into being (accident with a teleporter) or how everyone banded together to stop a swarm of evil, planet-destroying robots called Gah Lak Tus, but none of that will really come into play for our game (unless it does, in which case I'll explain it then). But for the purposes of the Ultimate Avengers (not to be confused with the Ultimates in this storyline), these are the only really important things you need to know. Captain America begot Serum Race begot numerous heroes, and Mutants begot Formation of S.H.I.E.L.D. begot formation of Ultimates.
And that begot the formation of the B-Squad, or, as we like to call ourselves, the Ultimate Avengers
In the next post I'll go into detail about how the Ultimate Avengers came into being, and where our game diverts from the normal Ultimate Universe storyline.
However, the fact that Captain America even existed drove the powers that be to try and recreate the process. The race to rediscover the secret of the Super Soldier Serum, or at least something close to it, has had a domino effect throughout the Ultimate Universe. Numerous scientists, conglomerates, research laboratories and seemingly every nerd with an at-home chemistry set has been working throughout the years to develop their own Serum, with various effects, both positive and negative. It really has become a genetic arms race, and even nuclear weapons have been placed on the backburner next to the concept of each nation having its own Captain America.
The race for the Serum has inadvertantly created many of the superheroes in the Ultimate Universe. As I mentioned before, the Hulk is perhaps the greatest tragedy/triumph in pursuit of this now legendary elixir. Some folks have neglected the Serum in favor of other ways of genetic enhancement, such as Dr. Henry Pym and his "Pym Particles", which allow one to grow to gigantic sizes. Tony Stark has turned to technology, creating the Iron Man suit which serves as a one-man army (though it needs an army of technicians to get off the ground).
Spider-Man is also a product of this very race, though through accidental means. Norman Osborn, owner and operator of Oscorp Industries, developed a miracle drug called "Oz". One of many guinea pigs used by Oscorp in the testing of Oz was a spider, which escaped from its cage and found and promptly bit a young teenager named Peter Parker. The Oz, mixed with the spider's venom, gave Parker his powers. Osborn was aware of this sudden mutation, and decided to try injecting himself with Oz. Unfortunately, the Oz by itself only served to transform Osborn into a giant, green-skinned monster, now affectionately known as "The Green Goblin". Accidents with Oz have also created Dr. Octopus and the Hobgoblin.
Now, before I continue and get some of you majorly confused, I need to tell you about the other "spark" for the Ultimate Universe, and that spark is the recent and rampant emergent of mutants. If you know the X-Men, you know what I mean, but for those who might not a mutant is someone born with special powers, seemingly the "next step" in human evolution. Recently mutants have been showing up by the hundreds, and the fact that so many people with super powers are suddenly here has sent most of the public into all-out panic. The most frightening of these newcomers is undoubtedly Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants, a group of mutant terrorists bent on conquering the planet. The government's knee jerk reaction was the Sentinel program, which employed giant robots called Sentinels to "keep the peace", but this only proved to add to the carnage. Some idealistic mutants ran to the banner of Professor Charles Xavier, who gathered them as a defensive fighting force known as the X-Men. The X-Men indeed saved Washington D.C. from one of Magneto's most prolific attacks, and henceforth have had a begrudging relationship with the American government.
But Magneto's assault on the capitol of the country had far greater consequences than scaring some homo sapiens silly. It was a signal to the government that action was called for. So, the powers that be chose General Nicholas Fury, an African-American military man with an impeccable record for getting the job done, to take charge of S.H.I.E.L.D., a new military establishment that would specialize in policing superpowered individuals. Nick Fury's first initiative was the creation of his own group of superpowered individuals, codenamed "The Ultimates". He hired Tony Stark (Iron Man), Dr. Henry Pym (Giant Man), Henry's wife Janet Pym (The Wasp, secretly a mutant whose DNA Henry used to develop his own Pym Particles), Dr. Bruce Banner (whose emergence as the Hulk ended up causing more harm than good), Thor (who really is the god of Norse mythology but everyone else just assumes is a crazy man with weapons of incredible power), and, in a twist we all saw coming, Captain America.
Cap, it turns out (and if you've heard this before, forgive me; I'm trying to cover all the bases), didn't die, but was frozen in the waters of the Arctic Ocean. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the Super Soldier Serum, maybe a combination of the two, who knows, but somehow Cap was frozen in suspended animation, not aging a day since his last mission back in WWII. Now once again awake and ready for action, Captain America took the position of team leader for the Ultimates.
So, Nick Fury had his team, and they worked just as you would suspect a police force of super people would act: they were pricks. Well, now, that might be a bit harsh, but honestly, the Ultimates simply follow the law and Fury's orders without much protestation. S.H.I.E.L.D. even started sending them overseas to disarm and pacify whole countries. Obviously, this didn't go over so well with the rest of the world. S.H.I.E.L.D. was an American institution, and the fact that the ol' US of A had such tremendous power at their beck and call upset a lot of people.
And that's pretty much where it's at right now.
There's a few other things I could cover, like how the Fantastic Four came into being (accident with a teleporter) or how everyone banded together to stop a swarm of evil, planet-destroying robots called Gah Lak Tus, but none of that will really come into play for our game (unless it does, in which case I'll explain it then). But for the purposes of the Ultimate Avengers (not to be confused with the Ultimates in this storyline), these are the only really important things you need to know. Captain America begot Serum Race begot numerous heroes, and Mutants begot Formation of S.H.I.E.L.D. begot formation of Ultimates.
And that begot the formation of the B-Squad, or, as we like to call ourselves, the Ultimate Avengers
In the next post I'll go into detail about how the Ultimate Avengers came into being, and where our game diverts from the normal Ultimate Universe storyline.
An Introduction to the Ultimate Avengers
Welcome, True Believers, to the official blog site for the Ultimate Avengers MURPG! It is here where I, your humble GM (or at least one of the GMs), shall regale you with necessary and/or useful background information for this exciting game that was started some three years ago to overall enthusiastic reception and now, through the sheer force of fate, shall be resurrected amongst our humble band of geeks and freaks!
Now, Waffleman and myself (I shall refer to ourselves by character names for the purposes of confidentiality) are very familiar with the background of the Ultimate Avengers, the group of superheroes those of you who play this game will be signing up with. But I for one know that many of you will be new to this story, so, being your friendly neighborhood GM (and inspired by Sir DM of the DnD game "Vision") decided it might be a good idea to give you all at least some kind of introduction before we get into the game proper. For this post, I'll explain what I mean when I say "Ultimate" Avengers, and indeed what the heck "Ultimate" has to do with anything.
A few years ago, like right after the first X-Men movie came out but before the first Spider-Man film was released, Marvel Comics hypothesized that they were going to receive a huge boom in new customers/fans due to the popularity of the movies. While this is all well and good at first, in the comic book business holding on to such fans can be a bit troublesome. Why? Because of the issue of continuity. Every comic you pick up today has literally decades of backstory behind it. For Marvel, many of its flagship comics (X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four) are nearly up to five decades of existence, while DC comics can now boast nearly 80 years of background for such mainstays as Batman and Superman. What this means to new readers is that they have about a 7% chance of actually understanding what's going on in the average comic they pick up. This, of course, is a problem, for if you don't understand what's happening, why would you continue to bother buying comics? Nowadays Wikipedia can help ease you into modern storylines, but at the turn of the century Wikipedia wasn't quite as big as it is now (I'm not even sure if it existed, frankly).
So Marvel, ever aware of this conundrum and the obstacle it presented to them gathering in the new readers eager to learn more about those characters they saw on the silver screen, came up with a simple but brilliant solution: start over. No, really, just wipe the slate clean and start over. Start up brand new versions of the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers as if they'd never been done before. Oh, the regular comics would still be maintained (Marvel didn't want to lose their faithful fans from years past), but these new lines of comics would be introduced for people who a.) didn't know what was happening in the mainstream lines, and b.) didn't want to spend weeks upon weeks researching them to figure out what was going on. And so Marvel introduced the "Ultimate" Universe (though "Ultimate" was technically just a title, not meant to insinuate this was the "ultimate/better than anything else" universe). First came Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man, then soon followed just "The Ultimates" (the original Avengers under a name more appropriate to their new setting) and, finally, the Ultimate Fantastic Four.
The Ultimate Universe proved to be a big hit, and what made it all the more appealing was that writers were free to reinvent beloved characters in whatever way they deemed fit, sometimes in new and surprising ways. Ultimate Iron Man, for example, needs a 100-man ground crew just to make sure his suit is working. Ultimate Hulk was actually a botched attempt at recreating the Super Soldier Serum that created Captain America (in fact, a large percentage of the folks in the Ultimate Universe got their powers through some random botched attempt to recreate Cap; a reflection of the real-life arms race so many superpowers are caught up in in the real world). Ultimate Spider-Man was once again a teenager, and he was only able to build his webshooters because his father had been working on some similar devices before his untimely death.
At this point in time the Ultimate Universe has been heavily developed, and now sports a continuity that is impressive in its own right. This new line has been going now for almost 8 years, and hence there's quite a lot of ground to cover (although not too much, hopefully, especially where our game is involved). In the next post I'll try to run through the basics of the Ultimates Universe, to give you all a frame of reference for where all your favorite characters fit into the whole mess, and how they might relate to our own game.
Now, Waffleman and myself (I shall refer to ourselves by character names for the purposes of confidentiality) are very familiar with the background of the Ultimate Avengers, the group of superheroes those of you who play this game will be signing up with. But I for one know that many of you will be new to this story, so, being your friendly neighborhood GM (and inspired by Sir DM of the DnD game "Vision") decided it might be a good idea to give you all at least some kind of introduction before we get into the game proper. For this post, I'll explain what I mean when I say "Ultimate" Avengers, and indeed what the heck "Ultimate" has to do with anything.
A few years ago, like right after the first X-Men movie came out but before the first Spider-Man film was released, Marvel Comics hypothesized that they were going to receive a huge boom in new customers/fans due to the popularity of the movies. While this is all well and good at first, in the comic book business holding on to such fans can be a bit troublesome. Why? Because of the issue of continuity. Every comic you pick up today has literally decades of backstory behind it. For Marvel, many of its flagship comics (X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four) are nearly up to five decades of existence, while DC comics can now boast nearly 80 years of background for such mainstays as Batman and Superman. What this means to new readers is that they have about a 7% chance of actually understanding what's going on in the average comic they pick up. This, of course, is a problem, for if you don't understand what's happening, why would you continue to bother buying comics? Nowadays Wikipedia can help ease you into modern storylines, but at the turn of the century Wikipedia wasn't quite as big as it is now (I'm not even sure if it existed, frankly).
So Marvel, ever aware of this conundrum and the obstacle it presented to them gathering in the new readers eager to learn more about those characters they saw on the silver screen, came up with a simple but brilliant solution: start over. No, really, just wipe the slate clean and start over. Start up brand new versions of the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers as if they'd never been done before. Oh, the regular comics would still be maintained (Marvel didn't want to lose their faithful fans from years past), but these new lines of comics would be introduced for people who a.) didn't know what was happening in the mainstream lines, and b.) didn't want to spend weeks upon weeks researching them to figure out what was going on. And so Marvel introduced the "Ultimate" Universe (though "Ultimate" was technically just a title, not meant to insinuate this was the "ultimate/better than anything else" universe). First came Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man, then soon followed just "The Ultimates" (the original Avengers under a name more appropriate to their new setting) and, finally, the Ultimate Fantastic Four.
The Ultimate Universe proved to be a big hit, and what made it all the more appealing was that writers were free to reinvent beloved characters in whatever way they deemed fit, sometimes in new and surprising ways. Ultimate Iron Man, for example, needs a 100-man ground crew just to make sure his suit is working. Ultimate Hulk was actually a botched attempt at recreating the Super Soldier Serum that created Captain America (in fact, a large percentage of the folks in the Ultimate Universe got their powers through some random botched attempt to recreate Cap; a reflection of the real-life arms race so many superpowers are caught up in in the real world). Ultimate Spider-Man was once again a teenager, and he was only able to build his webshooters because his father had been working on some similar devices before his untimely death.
At this point in time the Ultimate Universe has been heavily developed, and now sports a continuity that is impressive in its own right. This new line has been going now for almost 8 years, and hence there's quite a lot of ground to cover (although not too much, hopefully, especially where our game is involved). In the next post I'll try to run through the basics of the Ultimates Universe, to give you all a frame of reference for where all your favorite characters fit into the whole mess, and how they might relate to our own game.
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