Sidekick Rebellion! [Superheroes, Interest Check]

Started by Guancyto, May 12, 2019, 02:34:28 AM

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Guancyto

The life of a sidekick is not an easy one. Being a brightly-colored distraction for a black-clad ninja hero. Testing which vials are poison and which are antidote by trial and error. Doing most of the work only to see the big name get most of the credit. Covering for a hero's absence while they get into romantic encounters with local villains, and then cleaning the cum stains out of their super-suit afterward.

Suffering the worst of a bored hero's absolute dickery.

They say no man is a hero to his valet, and you have seen and experienced the worst that a shining, well-loved hero has to offer.



Enough! No more! What if you could strike out on your own, making your own way without suffering the guidance of your so-called mentor?

What if you could find others suffering the same, and could get together to form your own superteam? What if you could be a real hero at last, instead of second banana to someone who really isn't even as good as you are?

Of course, not only would that mean trying to contend with the heavy-hitting villains, but also having to manage your image! If you thought fighting with Dracula was bad, you should see what happens when one of your teammates says something insensitive on Twitter. Also, your former mentor might not take kindly to your setting yourself up as their rival. If you thought they were a dick to you before, well. Good luck.

---

So!

What is this?
This is a game about a group of sidekicks who got tired of being jerked around, and decided to form their own superteam. Their struggles! Their woes! The impossibility of confronting a world-ending supervillain who has stolen forty cakes! It will not be a particularly serious game, some might even call it goofy.

Where?
The world will be a copyright-safe pastiche of several different comic universes and my own particular brand of madness. Powered individuals are everywhere and it's hard to distinguish yourself, which is why there's a never-ending stream of evil plots to foil.

Guan isn't this basically just the old Teen Titans and how much do you miss it?
Yes, and SO MUCH.

So how do I sign up?
Just post your interest for now! Eventually, I need two things from you. First is a paragraph (or more if you like) describing your sidekick-turned-would-be-hero, why they rebelled against their mentor and what they hope to gain out of it. Then, either a similar description of their old mentor and why they're beloved by all and also they're a dick (or aren't, but your sidekick thinks they are), or a request for me to come up with one. I would ask to not go too dark with this, at least tonally, just to help keep the tone of the game light. That's not to put things out of bounds; goodness knows Superman murdered Lois an awful lot, but somehow it was always good fun.

Smut?
Yes.

I mean, not the focus, but if it happens I'm not opposed.

Is that it?
I would also welcome suggestions for a game system for this game! I don't particularly care for freeform in the genre; the old "two invincible flying bricks punch each other to no noticeable effect" problem is exacerbated tenfold by not having an objective resolution system. Of the ones I know:

Mutants and Masterminds is absurdly versatile, but it has a lot of trouble in letting characters punch above their weight class. The trouble is that's the whole point of this game!

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is a pretty fun system, but it's very easy to unbalance, too. It relies a lot on the honor system to see characters fail at anything, and far from the hypercompetent heroes of your average Marvel storyline, your sidekicks are intended to not really be great at their jobs! At least not yet.

Powered by the Apocalypse has the sort of shared narrative that I find appealing, but I don't own the Supers iteration of it. (I own the Kill Six Billion Demons RPG, but that would take some serious kludging to make into a supers system!)

FATE is probably the easiest choice, but I've never actually used it, and some people seem to dislike it for supers games?

Premier


JoanieSappho


Premier

#3
Name: Joyeuse
Hero Name: Queen of Swords
Mentor's Name: Arcana

It's probably best to start with the Mentor first.

Arcana

Arcana is one of the most prominent mages of the world and she makes it look good, but she doesn't really cast magic spells like people expect. Instead they have their Regalia, powerful magical items with their own powers that are all themed off cards from the Tarot deck. The mind reading orb of the High Priestess and the powerful lightning blasts of The Tower are by far her most famous items, as well as her odd teammates who seemed to mysteriously come and go from day to day whenever the worlds heritage was under threat you could count on her teleporting in to help save the past. Unfortunately, it has come to light this wasn't really for noble reasons.

Each piece of Arcana's Regalia is an important artefact of humanities history and rather than saving them, she's been slowly trying to assemble the full set of by stealing them away and leaving behind copies under the cover of stopping villains from doing the same. Joyeuse figured out she was doing this and is somewhat scandalised that her creator would be doing villainous things. She's got to find out why she would do such a thing and stop her before Arcana turns out to be a proper bad egg!

Joyeuse (The Queen of Swords)

Joyeuse is a part of Arcana's Regalia. Arcana's Teammates were simply her Regalia given a human(ish) form and the Queen of Swords was certainly an impressive one, with her ability to do what she calls "Sword Magic" that mainly involved summoning swords and throwing them about with abandon. She claims her magic can do anything ... as long as its sword related, which has been noted down by officials as "Not a very helpful description"

She's nimble, quick and quite bubbly and an unashamed hero, which has made her creators crimes a bit of a sore spot for her. The Queen of Swords may only be a Minor Arcana and thus not even close to the most powerful part of Arcana's Regalia but just because Arcana created her it doesn't mean she gets to own her and the Queen of Swords is an unashamed and rather bombastic heroine and will defy her own creator if needs be to keep it up. It's not that she's betrayed Arcana, just she needs a good knock on the head to get her back on the right path and if that means going to war with her, well the Queen of Swords has enough blades for a whole army, war it is!

Steir


Idlewyld

Ooh - Would a Star Trek Red Shirt work in this game?

Yurie


MingMing

I'm definitely interested, though I have more experience with M&M, I'm game for the idea as a whole regardless of system.

I've got an idle thought of a long-suffering Asian sidekick who actually is pretty competent, but was saddled with a vainglorious and patronizing American hero who always took all the credit for everything.  Thinking maybe just a tad inspired by say... Bruce Lee's short stint on network television perhaps?

I am not sure if I'll go with the stereotypical martial arts as a schtick though...  maybe I could go with mystic arts and have the "Hero" be like the Master Magician of their realm while I play the pretty "Magician's Assitant"?

Or maybe I might try being the wallflower Executive Assistant to the publicly-outed and egoistic Tech Mogul with an arsenel of Star Trek-esque personal gadgets? 

Whichever of the above three concepts I might pick, I really like the concept of being the competent but utterly unvoiced sidekick, stewing in helpless frustration for most of their career.  Thought on which fits best?
“I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves sex”- Confucius



(If I don't know you, haven't communicated with you in PM's or through the Elliquiy Forums, don't just IM me out of the blue.  I will just close the window & ignore you.  Take the trouble to actually send me a greeting & talk with me in Elliquiy first!)

Premier

I went for a magical master as my mentor, but not heard much from people yet. I do love a gadgeteer though

Avalon29

Going to go ahead and plan an interest flag here.

ShadowFox89

I should poke my head in before this fills up.
Call me Shadow
My A/A

Guancyto

Thank you all for the interest!

Quote from: Idlewyld on May 12, 2019, 01:12:27 PM
Ooh - Would a Star Trek Red Shirt work in this game?
Maybe you're the... plucky comic relief?

I mean, some sort of spacefuture hero a la Booster Gold would certainly be in-genre, and at least if we do do MnM being able to continually die and resurrect yourself is a power you can buy?

Quote from: MingMing on May 12, 2019, 05:35:36 PM
I'm definitely interested, though I have more experience with M&M, I'm game for the idea as a whole regardless of system.
Another player mentioned this in PM, so I'll mention it early. I like and am familiar with Mutants and Masterminds; it's just that the PL system and the math thereof makes fighting things that are stronger than you (that'll probably be most things!) frustrating more than fun, in my experience. Also, the ability to buff each other up and do teamwork shenanigans (which I consider an essential part of a superteam experience) is more limited, again because of the PL limits. It is crazy versatile though, maybe a little too easy to break over your knee but that's the price of getting to do so many things.

QuoteI've got an idle thought of a long-suffering Asian sidekick who actually is pretty competent, but was saddled with a vainglorious and patronizing American hero who always took all the credit for everything.  Thinking maybe just a tad inspired by say... Bruce Lee's short stint on network television perhaps?

I am not sure if I'll go with the stereotypical martial arts as a schtick though...  maybe I could go with mystic arts and have the "Hero" be like the Master Magician of their realm while I play the pretty "Magician's Assitant"?

Or maybe I might try being the wallflower Executive Assistant to the publicly-outed and egoistic Tech Mogul with an arsenel of Star Trek-esque personal gadgets? 

Whichever of the above three concepts I might pick, I really like the concept of being the competent but utterly unvoiced sidekick, stewing in helpless frustration for most of their career.  Thought on which fits best?
Well! A stage magician would be fun but it looks like Premier's got that one covered - unless you want to pair up. Actually, yeah, I'm all for villain duos! If your sidekick is doing all the work, then that would be an actual master of mysticism and a rank charlatan, which would actually be pretty fun.

A vainglorious American hero sounds like a lot of fun to play on my end, actually. A bit Big Trouble in Little China except the trucker insists on constantly hogging the spotlight instead of getting knocked out at the beginning of the fight.

Ooor ever-more-improbable gadgets, and a hero who really genuinely needs that executive assistant to function. That would be a pretty different relationship to what the others will probably have.

In sum I am exactly zero help in helping you choose which one to go with!

JoanieSappho

Two ideas, I think.

The first and one that would be the most in need of checking with Guan about, is less sidekick and more minion. The person they were teamed with was a villain from day one and also their mother, but my character is, somehow, pure sweet and innocent and wants to be good, this isn't just a phase she's going through.

Secondly, a stoic, sensible, level headed un/mildly powered individual who gets stuff done by being awesome. And while they admit they are a bit of a doormat, they have limits and the secretly bitchy idol-like heroine they work for, who is all sweetness and fluff to everyone else, finally went too far, too often.

Athem

I like the idea of playing a Batgirl-expy, but fitting more a Robin role and who's finally got fed up of being treated like...

http://snarkandfury.blogspot.com/2008/09/scene-from-one-of-my-favourite-self.html

Steir

Following Premier's format, since it's convenient. :3c




Name: Amelia O'Rate
Alias: Magical Chroma
Mentor Name: Kazuki Sashima

Kazuki Sashima

Kazuki was an ordinary young man who was studying in college, hanging out with friends, and intending to be just an ordinary person for the rest of his life. Literally bumping into Amelia changed all that, and he ended up fighting evil dragon lords, deranged wizards that got out of their seals from centuries ago, mad scientists with receding hairlines, and incredibly cute but megalomaniac mascots - all of them thinking that Amelia was important in their goals of world domination because of her near-limitless supply of mana. While the experience was exhilarating at first, it got old quickly after the fourth time around. Worse was how the landlady complained about all the damages inflicted on the apartment.

In the end, Kazuki made a difficult decision and left Amelia in the park with a box akin to an abandoned pet...

Amelia O'Rate/Magical Chroma

Formally known as Amarita Orchis Rayterosaria, Amelia hailed from a forgotten magic civilization from the past (who knows how long ago) in the hopes that she wakes up to a (unfortunately not) better era. Amelia was born with a Chromatic Gem, granting her the unusual magic of enhancing the capabilities of anything other than herself. Not only that, the incredible power made her an effective battery of energy which many villain covet and hope to capture her in the hopes she powers their next dastardly evil plot.

It wasn't easy for the magical girl - despite with the ability to transform she had no means of fighting back. She ended up being fought over by many villains until encountering Kazuki Sashima (who gave her a name that's easier to remember and say). She imbued him with magic powers that allowed him to defeat many villains (and somehow rescuing her too) and she learned a lot about the modern society and getting chores done. Unfortunately a year and ten villains later she found herself abandoned in a box out in the park.


Avalon29

I’ve been looking over systems and my suggestions would be Prowlers & Paragons, Masks the Pbta game, or the Marvel Heroic roleplaying system.

Ixy

This sounds like a great idea-- I hope that a system doesn't bog it down too much or detract from the core concept of the sidekick-centric dry-humor and drama. 

I really think this would be cool if the heroes were very limited in power... Like, actual sidekicks, not superheroes who are only "sidekicks" because the heroes themselves are godlike.  Like, they have one thing they're phenomenal at besides combat.  Idlewyld's "red-shirt" cracks me up... Just imagining this character with astonishingly bad luck and incredible resilience returning from death, over and over, saying "I'm okay!", be it at the bottom of a pit trap, after regurgitation by a laser-shark, crawling out of a bomb crater, etc.

I was thinking a couple things... Like either a young woman who can transform, but only to a very specific species of marmot or spider-monkey. Or maybe someone who, exposed to some villainous experiment, was turned into a "goblin-like" version of herself, and although grateful for being "freed", and feeling obligated to help her "hero", is having a hard time balancing the sidekick life with culinary school.  Or maybe a private security officer who, after a few years made more obsolete by a partner superhero's ever-growing power and ego, is relegated to the servant/housekeeper/mechanic role, and had to break away like from a toxic relationship.
______________________
The big print giveth, the small print taketh away.


JoanieSappho

Okay, putting this here so people know what one of the characters is going to be, since I made sure that this is a thing I can too. An actual proper writeup might be a while because not feeling so well, but;

The minion idea. Also maybe the daughter (adoptive or natural, we'll see what fits best) of a villainess, both having sound based powers. In my girl's case, the control of objects through music, and more powerful, flashy stuff being her mother's thing.
She was brought up to be the perfect villainess daughter, as evil as she is beautiful, but she felt increasingly bad and couldn't resist her urges to do the goo things that she always secretly thought off, and got kicked out of home for her trouble.
Part of her is still trained to suggest doing things the evil way, she's got a good heart to her and, well, her being with the sidekicks/heroes could be used against her because of who her mother is.
Her Evil self


And what she looks like normally

Athem

#20
Quote from: Achmed the Mad on May 13, 2019, 03:31:22 PM
I like the idea of playing a Batgirl-expy, but fitting more a Robin role and who's finally got fed up of being treated like...

http://snarkandfury.blogspot.com/2008/09/scene-from-one-of-my-favourite-self.html
Something like...
"Night Dragon and Dragonette" had been a famous crimefighting duo for years, taking on the criminals of the city. What most people didn't know was that there'd been five Dragonettes, the previous four having suffered 'tragic accidents' (been killed in a fight).

The latest Dragonette has had enough. She'd originally answered a discreet ad for someone with gymnastic and martial arts skills ("High kicks preferred"), and at first it had been fun. She'd really felt they were doing some good. But she soon realized that Night Dragon viewed the succession of Dragonettes as little more than eye-candy, cheerleaders for his brilliance and a walking advertisement at public events; a 'trophy sidekick', if you like. In combat, she was mostly expected to simply attract attention so Night Dragon could get the drop on the villains. She took all the risks, he received most of the fame. And he was slowing down with age. Dragonette decided it was time she found a group of her own.

Depending on the tone of the game, she could be forced (at least initially) to wear the ridiculously impractical Dragonette costume: an asphyxiatingly-tight green catsuit, high-heeled boots, and a dragon's head mask. Or, if the tone's a bit more serious, she's already ditched the costume (except perhaps the mask) for something more sensible.

I don't have strong preferences for systems. I like FATE, so one of the superhero variants of FATE would be great, but I've got MnM2e/3e, Masks, and Prowlers & Paragons.

Tokyorose627

Quote from: JoanieSappho on May 14, 2019, 12:53:02 PM
Okay, putting this here so people know what one of the characters is going to be, since I made sure that this is a thing I can too. An actual proper writeup might be a while because not feeling so well, but;

The minion idea. Also maybe the daughter (adoptive or natural, we'll see what fits best) of a villainess, both having sound based powers. In my girl's case, the control of objects through music, and more powerful, flashy stuff being her mother's thing.
She was brought up to be the perfect villainess daughter, as evil as she is beautiful, but she felt increasingly bad and couldn't resist her urges to do the goo things that she always secretly thought off, and got kicked out of home for her trouble.
Part of her is still trained to suggest doing things the evil way, she's got a good heart to her and, well, her being with the sidekicks/heroes could be used against her because of who her mother is.
Her Evil self


And what she looks like normally

Sounds interesting! Wanted to also do something around the idea of music, but wasnt sure how it would be implemented or how it would work in battles. XP

May just do something similar to Black Canary with a supersonic cry!

Brittlby

Nitpicking naysayers barking like beagles, through the tall grass of poisonous tongues
Slide down your throat like an antidote you can quote...

O/O

Yurie

#23
Name: Tamir Kendrick 'TK' Garcia
Alias: Impulse
Mentor Name: Lawrence Raine (aka Psifer)

Orphaned at a young age, Tamir (TK to his friends) never thought his life would amount to much until he accidentally manifested psychic powers during a gang shootout in his neighborhood. After being taken to a Raine Conglomerate-owned hospital, Tamir found himself under the care of the billionaire Lawrence Raine, who revealed himself to be the legendary psychic and detective Psifer. Raine promised to teach Tamir to use his powers and use them to fight against the forces of evil; an offer that Tamir took with gusto.

Unfortunately, Tamir came to realize that underneath Raine's wealth, training and civilized veneer was a guy who had massive, massive issues. True, Raine provided a world-class education in both academics and the superhero trade, but his methods were often brutal, his obsessions unsettling and his perfectionism overwhelming. It rapidly became apparent to Tamir why Psifer's former sidekicks left. It's getting to the point that Tamir is already looking for his own escape. The question is, will Psifer stand for this 'betrayal?'



Psifer

Billionaire playboy Lawrence Raine is actually Psifer (pronounced like 'cipher'), the world's greatest psion and detective. Having developed his powers at a young age after seeing his parents brutally murdered, Psifer now uses the wealth of the Raine Conglomerate to help fund his one-man war against evil and street crime. This has absolutely nothing to do with the PTSD, paranoia and manic-depression that he refuses to get treated; absolutely not.

Psifer is a genius-level intellect and a master psychic, possessing numerous powers including telekinesis, telepathy, pyrokinesis, psychometry and clairvoyance. He mostly uses these powers to solve crimes, beat up street gangs and crazy people and maintain his fabulous lifestyle. He's also taken several young psychics under his wing (mostly finding them using Raine Conglomerate technology and resources), though they don't always last thanks to Psifer's exacting standards and neurotic codependency issues.

Tokyorose627

#24
A little scared cause I've never actually done a system game before other then freeform (I like free form a lot ;A;), but hoping to maybe try something new and not get overwhelmed. TTATT

Name: Karin Hojo
Alias: Obsidian
Mentor Name: Cataclysm



Karin, at a young age, always knew she had super powers that were beyond anything that people would understand. A freak accident occurred in her classroom one day when she was in front of the class, reciting a paper or poem, she couldn't quite remember. So embarrassed and afraid to speak in front of others, she had begun to cry, and when she wailed from her tears, her cry turned from a normal, child-like one, to that of an ear-piercing sonic screech that up-ed in frequency and volume. Nearly defining herself and the classmates around her, she ran away and never returned to her school. She went on the run that day, never returning home, and becoming a missing child from that day forward. She moved shelter to shelter, trying to keep her powers to herself and. to not be seen, but it was never something she could truly avoid. Caught up in a gang riot while on the streets, she was about to be be cornered when  body her age had come to save her, and soon saw that they too had powers, and soon joined him. With herself and her new found friend by the name of Cataclysm, real name Touma, the two became a superpower pair. Time went on, and as the two grew, so did their powers and recognition to others that they were here to stay, and they were there to help others. They soon became recruited by a rather wealthy security company to become hired heroes to help fight the other baddies that came their way, and the two became recognized within the city.

However, Karin soon left the life of hired business, and most noticeably leaving her friend Touma, after she soon came to realize that her friend had become selfish and power-hungry as time went on, demanding to be paid more, and even being paid off by lowlifes so that their crime could continue.

Having none of it, she left the company, and her friend, much to his frustrated and selfish behest of her to return and continue their soon-to-be underhanded and tainted ways. She now is at odds with Touma, and has begun to see the company tactics slowly shifting to that of a powerful gang, running illegal activities under the bribery of the cities police.



Touma/Cataclysm

A troubled man in his youth, Touma Ryugazaki had always been the kind of man that couldn't turn down a deal that gave him riches and personal gratification. Having lived from nothing to become hero that people admired and adored, it was only a matter of time before it would go over his head and he became desperate for a fix. He soon began to. start the troubles he would 'fix', bribing villains and other lowlifes to start things for him while he showed just how great he was, before being paid by the city and other officials to regain his losses, and then some. The company he worked for soon caught wind of this, and now actively encourage his behavior, with Touma and the company now becoming an underhanded gang operation.

Touma/Cataclysm has the ability to use dark magic to conjure shadow creatures to his disposal, taking the form of animals that he knows can do damage and cause harm to others that need to be dealt with. His abilities have been rumored to allow him sink through shadows around him hide and attack those unsuspecting, but the rumors haven't been proven.