Post by tp on Jun 1, 2006 7:56:26 GMT -5
I've just copied the thread from the last forum to here, in case anyone wants to refer to it
Does anybody have any particular ideas for any background plots? Is
everybody happy for it to be contempory?
Also what does everybody think about using other peoples characters? I
personally think that it will help give depth to various on going plots
and chacacters if anyone can write a stroy for a character. However not
everyone may agree with this, maybe some characters could be open for
use, others not. Obviosuly the creator will have to ok the story first,
but any way
yuour thought...?
people's stories and characters are very individual. I for one
wouldn't want other people writing stories for a character I care
about.
We need to decide on the particulars of the setting before we nail down
any plots.
1. What is the power level of the superheroes? Is it like X-Men where
Dr. Xavier can kill the whole world with a little help from Cerebro, or
is it more like Mystery Men?
2. Are superpowers known to the public at large?
3. What year is the setting in?
I could very well imagine my character being used by others (some of
them at least) as long as they don't change them in any way. That would
need permission.
1: I do forsee it as being more powerful than mystery men, but nothing
says there can't be room for both. Gotham vs Metropolis for example.
2: That depends on how long they have existed. Have there been 40-60
years with super powered beings before or is it a fairly new event. The
first would allow people to write in different periods of time should
they want to.
3: I'm for a modern setting similar to current earth.
4. What kind of elements should we disallow. Should there be aliens,
magic, time travel or other typical sci-fi/fantasy elements other than
the actual powers. Should there be a common origin behind all super
powered beings or should it be individual?
I would propose that somewhere we have a list of all characters and
wether or not the creator is willing for other people to use them. All
stories how ever would have to be vetted by the Editor and the
Creator(s) of any heroes used in the story, with out these people go
ahead the story can not be used.
1: I agree with Rwizzard, low level powers would work best but some
high level powers would be acceptable as rare occuarances.
2: I would say that the general public do know about super powers, at
least some of them, others could be secret. I think super powers could
go back a long way, I have two ideas that both start in about the
1930s.
3: I also think a modern setting in a slightly alternate earth, not
quite the same as ours but no major changes. I personally would like to
do some stories set before the present, say 1950s but I think these
could fit in with the contempory setting as being 'historic' pieces.
4. I would go for allowing all elements as long as they are low level
and do not ruin any story lines for any one else.
5. The other thing we need to consider is the protocol for writing. I
would suggest that we set a date for 'publication' of Volume One. Up
until this date all stories can be banded around between writers and
the editor and can be altered. However when the dead line come all
stories approved by the editor and any creators go into Volume One and
this becomes 'official' we then beguin writing Volume Two.
6. We also need to think of a name for our universe.
We could have three or four categories of characters.
One: These can be used as you want and are all shared. Probably
shouldn't kill them, but you could.
Two: These characters a free to use, but you have to bring them back to
the common pool as you found him/her. Which means no real change.
Three: These can be used with the writer's permission. Any change to
the character would have to be discussed.
Four: These are private, and would be hard to use. Don't mean you
couldn't, but it would have to be in cooperation with the creator
Yeah, that sounds good to me.
another point I've thought of: artwork. I think it would be quite cool
if we could include some of some description, maybe even short comic
strips if we can find people willing and able.
Here's a plot idea:
How about low-level superpowers have always been around, but in ages
past people didn't really put the pieces together. In the contemporary
setting, people who do the research (scientists, journalists,
interested members of the public) are beginning to realize that
superpowers are actually fact and not just exaggerated stories of
unusual but still normal people. In the 30s and 40s studies were done
(some enlightened, most unethical, a few being 'test to destruction'
atrocities) confirming the existence of "unexplainable anomalies" in
rare individuals, but the research was swept under the rug because the
scientists didn't want to be called crazy or they felt the public
wasn't ready to accept it. The same thing happened with research
proving smoking caused cancer which was discarded because it came out
of Nazi Germany or studies in the 70s proving that 2 drinks a day was
good for the circulatory system which was hidden because drunk driving
was the current target of the public's ire.
The "uber-plot" could governments and the public waking up to the fact
that there are supermen and superwomen living among them. All the
questions of how these people fit into society are coming up at once.
I'm not in favor of a Marvel-style "everybody hates mutants" theme, but
something more like "is the star footballer a superman, and if so
should he be allowed to play?" Think of these superpowered people,
trying to live normal lives like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable, then
suddenly the feeding frenzy of the mass media closes in on them. How
does the government prosecute the invasion of a person's mind if
there's no law against it? Is a super-person guilty of using a deadly
weapon if he or she beats someone up with super-strength?
Story arcs could be how the superpeople deal with being what they are,
how their lives are changed by people suddenly looking at the elephant
in the room. Are their families supportive or plunged into turmoil?
Is a super-mathematician suddenly the hottest potential employee
around? Is she the target of jealousy, causing brutal mobbing at work?
It's the beginning of a time of legends, when the superpeople become
heroes or villains depending on who they are. In the beginning stories
we could shape the origins of metahuman conflicts of the 21st century.
We could start the origins based on how old we want particular
characters to be. Origin stories could start in WW2, the 60s, 70s, or
in the Cold War and political struggles of the 80s leading to the first
decade of the 21st century. It would also be a good idea to talk about
what kind of an alternate world we want. Does America stay out of WW2
because Japan listens to Admiral Yamamoto and doesn't bomb Pearl
Harbor? Does Nazi Germany still clench Europe in a depeleted uranium
fist while Britain hangs on behind a defensive array of Tesla death
rays and anti-ballistic missiles? Do fragments of the Soviet Union
fight or cut deals with Nazi generals? Does Japan reign supreme over a
terrified Asia? Does Australia fall to General Tojo?
Or...
Does a young painter called Adolf Hitler get accepted to the Vienna
Academy of Art, become a celebrated artist, and never enter politics?
Does the sun still never set on the British Empire, does the European
style Great Power system still endure, and does America remain only a
regional power? Does revolution and counter revolution still torture
Russia? Do the Chinese Communists still battle foreign occupiers? And
how does the confirmation of metahumans change this balance?
One thing we could do is set up a forum (I'm sure there's free ones
somewhere on the internet) to discuss how we want to shape the setting.
Another part of the forum could be for people's characters and stories.
I really like the main idea here and I think its broad enough to work
with a variety of stories. One change I would suggest is that super
powers were first proven to be fact in the 1950s and this sparked a
golden age were super heroes were treated like gods. This continued
into the 1960s and early 70s until there was a shift in public opinion
(the reason why could be developed in peoples stories) in the late 70s
super heroes were outlawed. This resulted in a rise in super crime to a
disastrous level and in 1981 Super Powers were again 'legalized' but
all super teams were run by the government. In the late 1990s the
legislation was loosened and for the past ten years they have been
trying to re integrate them selves into society. I have an idea for a
character who came into being in the late 1940s and it would be
interesting to put him through all these changes.
As to the alternateness of our earth I am not really too bothered what
we go for if anyone has a story line that necessitates any particular
setting then I am happy to go for that. Otherwise the world where
Hitler never came to power sounds pretty cool. That could have a few
interesting consequences, for example with out Nazism it is likely that
right wing politics would be far more prevalent.
Forumwise, is there any reason why here won't do?
Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, where is everybody basing their stories? Mine
are going to English.
I was thinking of doing some American stories that would involve world
travels.
Here's a free forum I set up that we could use.
gottinsagony.proboards101.com/
I think it's better organizationally than Googlegroups, and I can
really customize the boards on the site to account for any future
threads we might need.
We'll need a good reason for public opinion to turn so drastically
against the heroes. Maybe the super crimewave came in the early
sixties, as people from all walks of life found themselves with powers,
including some who didn't care about the law. This could have prompted
the crackdown in the 70s. We'll have to think about the power levels
though if superheroes were considered gods. They'd really have to do
some amazing stuff, like throwing cars, flying, etc.
In the no-WW2 setting, the British Empire would be the only superpower.
America wouldn't have industrialized for decades, and Russia wouldn't
have industrialized at all. There would be no Israel, and Britain
would control the oilfields of the Middle East. There probably
wouldn't be nuclear weapons, but there might be nuclear energy.
Germany might still be a republic, or it might have become a
constitutional monarchy with a new Kaiser, quite possibly another
relative of the British Crown.
or...
...did Britain fall to Fascism? Did Moseley take control of Britain in
the tumultuous times after WW1 along with Mussolini in Italy and Franco
in Spain, leaving democratic France and Germany surrounded? 1984, V
for Vendetta, and the fascist rendition of King Lear sort of sprang to
mind as I was writing this.
Another thing I don't like about Googlegroups is that it times out way
too fast. Good thing copied this post just in case.
Does anybody have any particular ideas for any background plots? Is
everybody happy for it to be contempory?
Also what does everybody think about using other peoples characters? I
personally think that it will help give depth to various on going plots
and chacacters if anyone can write a stroy for a character. However not
everyone may agree with this, maybe some characters could be open for
use, others not. Obviosuly the creator will have to ok the story first,
but any way
yuour thought...?
people's stories and characters are very individual. I for one
wouldn't want other people writing stories for a character I care
about.
We need to decide on the particulars of the setting before we nail down
any plots.
1. What is the power level of the superheroes? Is it like X-Men where
Dr. Xavier can kill the whole world with a little help from Cerebro, or
is it more like Mystery Men?
2. Are superpowers known to the public at large?
3. What year is the setting in?
I could very well imagine my character being used by others (some of
them at least) as long as they don't change them in any way. That would
need permission.
1: I do forsee it as being more powerful than mystery men, but nothing
says there can't be room for both. Gotham vs Metropolis for example.
2: That depends on how long they have existed. Have there been 40-60
years with super powered beings before or is it a fairly new event. The
first would allow people to write in different periods of time should
they want to.
3: I'm for a modern setting similar to current earth.
4. What kind of elements should we disallow. Should there be aliens,
magic, time travel or other typical sci-fi/fantasy elements other than
the actual powers. Should there be a common origin behind all super
powered beings or should it be individual?
I would propose that somewhere we have a list of all characters and
wether or not the creator is willing for other people to use them. All
stories how ever would have to be vetted by the Editor and the
Creator(s) of any heroes used in the story, with out these people go
ahead the story can not be used.
1: I agree with Rwizzard, low level powers would work best but some
high level powers would be acceptable as rare occuarances.
2: I would say that the general public do know about super powers, at
least some of them, others could be secret. I think super powers could
go back a long way, I have two ideas that both start in about the
1930s.
3: I also think a modern setting in a slightly alternate earth, not
quite the same as ours but no major changes. I personally would like to
do some stories set before the present, say 1950s but I think these
could fit in with the contempory setting as being 'historic' pieces.
4. I would go for allowing all elements as long as they are low level
and do not ruin any story lines for any one else.
5. The other thing we need to consider is the protocol for writing. I
would suggest that we set a date for 'publication' of Volume One. Up
until this date all stories can be banded around between writers and
the editor and can be altered. However when the dead line come all
stories approved by the editor and any creators go into Volume One and
this becomes 'official' we then beguin writing Volume Two.
6. We also need to think of a name for our universe.
We could have three or four categories of characters.
One: These can be used as you want and are all shared. Probably
shouldn't kill them, but you could.
Two: These characters a free to use, but you have to bring them back to
the common pool as you found him/her. Which means no real change.
Three: These can be used with the writer's permission. Any change to
the character would have to be discussed.
Four: These are private, and would be hard to use. Don't mean you
couldn't, but it would have to be in cooperation with the creator
Yeah, that sounds good to me.
another point I've thought of: artwork. I think it would be quite cool
if we could include some of some description, maybe even short comic
strips if we can find people willing and able.
Here's a plot idea:
How about low-level superpowers have always been around, but in ages
past people didn't really put the pieces together. In the contemporary
setting, people who do the research (scientists, journalists,
interested members of the public) are beginning to realize that
superpowers are actually fact and not just exaggerated stories of
unusual but still normal people. In the 30s and 40s studies were done
(some enlightened, most unethical, a few being 'test to destruction'
atrocities) confirming the existence of "unexplainable anomalies" in
rare individuals, but the research was swept under the rug because the
scientists didn't want to be called crazy or they felt the public
wasn't ready to accept it. The same thing happened with research
proving smoking caused cancer which was discarded because it came out
of Nazi Germany or studies in the 70s proving that 2 drinks a day was
good for the circulatory system which was hidden because drunk driving
was the current target of the public's ire.
The "uber-plot" could governments and the public waking up to the fact
that there are supermen and superwomen living among them. All the
questions of how these people fit into society are coming up at once.
I'm not in favor of a Marvel-style "everybody hates mutants" theme, but
something more like "is the star footballer a superman, and if so
should he be allowed to play?" Think of these superpowered people,
trying to live normal lives like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable, then
suddenly the feeding frenzy of the mass media closes in on them. How
does the government prosecute the invasion of a person's mind if
there's no law against it? Is a super-person guilty of using a deadly
weapon if he or she beats someone up with super-strength?
Story arcs could be how the superpeople deal with being what they are,
how their lives are changed by people suddenly looking at the elephant
in the room. Are their families supportive or plunged into turmoil?
Is a super-mathematician suddenly the hottest potential employee
around? Is she the target of jealousy, causing brutal mobbing at work?
It's the beginning of a time of legends, when the superpeople become
heroes or villains depending on who they are. In the beginning stories
we could shape the origins of metahuman conflicts of the 21st century.
We could start the origins based on how old we want particular
characters to be. Origin stories could start in WW2, the 60s, 70s, or
in the Cold War and political struggles of the 80s leading to the first
decade of the 21st century. It would also be a good idea to talk about
what kind of an alternate world we want. Does America stay out of WW2
because Japan listens to Admiral Yamamoto and doesn't bomb Pearl
Harbor? Does Nazi Germany still clench Europe in a depeleted uranium
fist while Britain hangs on behind a defensive array of Tesla death
rays and anti-ballistic missiles? Do fragments of the Soviet Union
fight or cut deals with Nazi generals? Does Japan reign supreme over a
terrified Asia? Does Australia fall to General Tojo?
Or...
Does a young painter called Adolf Hitler get accepted to the Vienna
Academy of Art, become a celebrated artist, and never enter politics?
Does the sun still never set on the British Empire, does the European
style Great Power system still endure, and does America remain only a
regional power? Does revolution and counter revolution still torture
Russia? Do the Chinese Communists still battle foreign occupiers? And
how does the confirmation of metahumans change this balance?
One thing we could do is set up a forum (I'm sure there's free ones
somewhere on the internet) to discuss how we want to shape the setting.
Another part of the forum could be for people's characters and stories.
I really like the main idea here and I think its broad enough to work
with a variety of stories. One change I would suggest is that super
powers were first proven to be fact in the 1950s and this sparked a
golden age were super heroes were treated like gods. This continued
into the 1960s and early 70s until there was a shift in public opinion
(the reason why could be developed in peoples stories) in the late 70s
super heroes were outlawed. This resulted in a rise in super crime to a
disastrous level and in 1981 Super Powers were again 'legalized' but
all super teams were run by the government. In the late 1990s the
legislation was loosened and for the past ten years they have been
trying to re integrate them selves into society. I have an idea for a
character who came into being in the late 1940s and it would be
interesting to put him through all these changes.
As to the alternateness of our earth I am not really too bothered what
we go for if anyone has a story line that necessitates any particular
setting then I am happy to go for that. Otherwise the world where
Hitler never came to power sounds pretty cool. That could have a few
interesting consequences, for example with out Nazism it is likely that
right wing politics would be far more prevalent.
Forumwise, is there any reason why here won't do?
Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, where is everybody basing their stories? Mine
are going to English.
I was thinking of doing some American stories that would involve world
travels.
Here's a free forum I set up that we could use.
gottinsagony.proboards101.com/
I think it's better organizationally than Googlegroups, and I can
really customize the boards on the site to account for any future
threads we might need.
We'll need a good reason for public opinion to turn so drastically
against the heroes. Maybe the super crimewave came in the early
sixties, as people from all walks of life found themselves with powers,
including some who didn't care about the law. This could have prompted
the crackdown in the 70s. We'll have to think about the power levels
though if superheroes were considered gods. They'd really have to do
some amazing stuff, like throwing cars, flying, etc.
In the no-WW2 setting, the British Empire would be the only superpower.
America wouldn't have industrialized for decades, and Russia wouldn't
have industrialized at all. There would be no Israel, and Britain
would control the oilfields of the Middle East. There probably
wouldn't be nuclear weapons, but there might be nuclear energy.
Germany might still be a republic, or it might have become a
constitutional monarchy with a new Kaiser, quite possibly another
relative of the British Crown.
or...
...did Britain fall to Fascism? Did Moseley take control of Britain in
the tumultuous times after WW1 along with Mussolini in Italy and Franco
in Spain, leaving democratic France and Germany surrounded? 1984, V
for Vendetta, and the fascist rendition of King Lear sort of sprang to
mind as I was writing this.
Another thing I don't like about Googlegroups is that it times out way
too fast. Good thing copied this post just in case.