majority holding premised on infallible dogs

Monday Mashup 5

Right! Time to mash up the Fantastic Four! The Fantastic Four are notable among superhero teams for a) being a family and b) being the most blatant example of Jack Kirby's "use the elements as inspirations" rule ever. It's kind of a difficult mashup in that the characters are key to the concept, so you'd almost need to use pregen PCs. Perhaps we're talking convention games, here.

Well, first off, the only real constraint would be that the characters have to be family. Well, and the patriarch has to be a dork. So here's my burst of insight - the patriarch is an NPC. Everybody has totally free reign in creating their characters, except that their backstory has to all work out to being a family. The various dynamics of the specific Fantastic Four family are what make it interesting, but they're not what make it the Fantastic Four - any interesting family would do. The real fun comes from the fact that they're stuck with each other, in more ways than one, but they don't get along that great. I can generally depend on any three players to come up with at least two inter-player conflicts - maybe I'm just blessed. They can all create non-superpowered characters, and then they each get their new powers tacked on. (This is another great reason to make the dorky patriarch an NPC - he gets the dorkiest power, unless he's planning a career as an adult film star.)

Having made the task easier, I'm going to make it harder again - I'm going to put the Fantastic Four in the world of Elfquest. The PCs will all be Sun Folk. I can hear my players whining already. That's alright, I only want three of them, so this will help thin out the numbers. Some sort of catastrophe (possibly involving cosmic rays) wipes out the respected elders of the tribe. The dorky patriarch of our PC family is technically the eldest member of the tribe, but he's something of an outcast - useful to have around, but not a candidate for "trusted leader" by any stretch of the imagination. Thus, leadership of the tribe passes to some other elf - one who has a grudge against the patriarch. Of course, the same accident that destroyed the tribal leadership has also given our family astounding (fantastic, even) new powers. Eventually, the patriarch will be accused (possibly correctly) of having caused the accident intentionally, for whatever reason - he definitely didn't expect it to make him a dorky superhero.

And then, of course, the Wolfriders appear. I think what would be really fun at this point is if the new tribal leaders - sort of Gen X elves - were hell-bent on befriending the Wolfriders, but Mr. Fantastic Elf, trying to prove his worth, convinced his family to harass and eventually outright battle the invaders. I think a lot of crazy things, though. So maybe that part would tank. In fact, the only thing I'm really willing to stand by here is that I don't have much respect at all for Reed Richards.

Monday Mashup #3: Narnia

Your inspiration this week is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Go.

The PCs are a group of children in a large house during a particularly cold winter - either a relative's home or an old house that's been converted into a daycare. The Responsible Adults step outside, "only for a moment," and don't return for hours or even days. The windows of the house are thick and old, and the addition of a thin layer of ice makes it impossible to see out or open the windows. The outer doors are similarly stuck.

First one, then another child discovers a hidden door somewhere in the house. Passing through the door, each emerges outside, but in an adult body. They will eventually discover that their new bodies also feature superhuman abilities. outside, the children discover a terrible ice storm that has sealed off houses and imprisoned people in their cars. One of the children will happen across what they take to be a police officer, who will have pity on them and not deliver them to the Ice Witch per his orders, while the other child will be delivered to her and seduced by her magical charms/desserts.

Eventually, all the children make it out of the house as a group, each in a new adult body with new powers, and now they find themselves looking for allies against the Ice Witch and her mysterious akmost-human armies. Although many humans are entombed or within the Ice Witch's thrall, some still remain free. There are rumors of a great hero, returned from across the ocean; he is said to fight with the strength of a lion, but will he fight for the children? For all the power of their new bodies, our heroes are still immature children inside, and one in particular is constantly scheming to turn his friends over to the Ice Witch herself.

I thought the most interesting challenge would be to overlay Narnia with the regular world of the protagonists. In particular, I look forward to the protagonists as adults rescuing their caretakers, and then realizing that they either have to explain everything, or beat the caretakers back to the house and become children again. I don't think the caretakers will be inclined to believe any explanation, even with all that they've seen happen. Obviously, this could be set in any four-color superhero system. I think it would make the most sense to place the action on an island, something somewhat urban, but nowhere near as big or populous as Manhattan. Even so, it's hard to explain why the Ice Witch isn't being immediately crushed by some responsible nation or other. A giant wall of ice encircling the island is goofy, but might pass. Another problem I had was working Aslan into it. I'm still not sold, but then, I don't recall being too happy with Aslan in the first book, either. I remember being in such awe when Mr. Beaver said, "'Course he isn't safe. But he's good," and I don't recall that awe being justified until halfway through the series. It will be a challenge to make the lion in this story a menacing figure as well as a redeemer.